Project Week 1
Jan 20th, 2012 by Katrina
Hi, we are team SJMA and our project is to look at various options for soundproofing rooms for Saint James Music Academy. Our team consists of six second year civil engineering students. We assigned team roles as follows:
- Colby Redekop – Contact Liaison
- Paul Docherty – Information Manager
- Annie Stancheva – Research Analyst
- Jason Yang – Photographer
- David Klassen – Note-taker
- Katrina Ong – Blog Editor
A little about Saint James Music Academy…
Saint James Music Academy is located in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and offers children from low income families to experience music in a powerful way. Having met with Kathryn Walker, the executive director, she expressed the main goal of the program, which is to provide a positive community for children to thrive in. It’s amazing how a non-profit organization has done so much with the few resources they initially had. They now have about 70 students, all of which are provided an instrument to use. Classes are conducted in the space provided by Saint James, where almost all ‘rooms’ have the potential to be music rooms. I say this because every space big enough for a few chairs and stands is used for lessons, including stair landings and storage nooks. With multiple lessons going on at the same time, it is understandable why they are looking for some soundproofing options.
Our site visit…
On Tuesday, January 17 our group went to visit the Saint James Music Academy. Stephen Rathjen, the Program Coordinator, as well as Kathryn Walker showed us around the facility. We were able to take some photos and approximate dimensions of the spaces, making note of which were the highest priority in terms of our project. Near the end of our tour Kathryn and Stephen went back to preparing while the students and music teachers started filing in. Upon arriving, all the students had their afternoon snacks and then lessons began.
As a group, we discussed our first impressions of the space and jotted down some ideas. We went around individually (in hopes of not looking too intimidating as a group of six university students) and re-visited all the rooms as the music lessons were in session. We could hear the amount of sound transfer through the problem areas that Kathryn mentioned in the tour.
Project constraints…
The space provided is borrowed from Saint James Anglican Church. This means that all permanent changes made to the building must be approved. Kathryn mentioned that she has already pitched some ideas, for example converting the movable divider into a permanent wall. There is also the option of temporary items that can work to sound proof. This is a good way to dodge the need for renovation approvals from the church; however, it adds to the list of items that the music academy uses on a ‘set up, take down’ basis. By the end of this project we hope to find a happy balance between the needs of both the music academy and the church providing the space.
This is great! It’s interesting that you have provided some context for the project and have successfully started to describe the work in terms of project management (i.e. goals and constraints). I’m very much looking forward to watching the blog as the project progresses.
Now that you have met with Kathryn and Stephen, please invite both of them into the blog.
Regards,
Susan Nesbit