Newton North High School

The new Newton North High School opened its doors to 1,850 students in the fall of 2010. This 400,000 SF facility encompasses an unusually broad array of educational facilities, including a 675-seat proscenium auditorium, a flexible black box theater, band and choral rehearsal rooms, a field house, performance gym, swimming pool , and vocational training facilities for culinary arts, printing/graphic arts, automotive, carpentry and electrical trades.

This massive, multi-story building presented a number of highly noise-sensitive adjacencies, including music rooms located next to a carpentry shop, a band room located below classrooms, and a weight training room located above a day-care facility. Acentech worked with both the GUND Partnership (design architects) and Dore & Whittier (architects of record) to develop sound isolating constructions to allow flexible, concurrent use of these adjacent spaces. Acentech worked closely with NNHS' prestigious performing arts department to address their specific acoustical requirements for both the theater and music programs, including stringent noise and vibration control for mechanical systems that serve the performance venues.

Acentech designed the audiovisual systems that serve the auditorium (including a sophisticated surround sound system), black box theater, music rehearsal rooms, gymnasiums, swimming pool and large tiered lecture hall. Acentech also designed the sound amplification system for the new athletic field.