Skip to content

Project Experience

Civic & Community

Sports and Recreation Facilities

About These Projects

Appropriate room acoustics is particularly important for speech intelligibility in an arena facility since public safety can be dependent upon the users’ ability to hear and understand emergency messages under conditions of relatively high ambient noise. In addition to safety concerns, adequate room acoustics are necessary to control excessive reverberant noise and to support musical performances. Control of noise from mechanical and electrical equipment is also important, and exterior noise from fans, cooling towers, etc. must be adequately controlled to avoid adverse impact on the surrounding grounds and neighbouring properties. BKL Consultants Ltd. has completed the acoustical design of many ice arenas, field houses and related facilities. A few of these are listed below.

Common Acoustical Challenges:

  • PA intelligibility for safety messages
  • Excessive reverberant noise
  • Supporting concerts and events
  • Mechanical and electrical noise
  • Fan and cooling tower noise to neighbours
  • Moisture-resistant treatments for pools

Richmond Olympic Skating Oval

Richmond, BC

Complete room acoustics and noise control design for Olympic speed skating venue and future multi-sport facility.

Rogers Arena

Vancouver, BC

Design and specification of acoustical treatment for 18,000 seat professional sports and concert arena. Mechanical systems were also assessed and silencing measures recommended to control background noise.

Medicine Hat Regional Event Centre

Medicine Hat, SK This 6,500 seat arena opened in 2015 and is home to the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League. In addition to hockey, the facility accommodates a variety of other activities including concerts. BKL was responsible for the acoustical design of the arena.

Milton Velodrome

Milton, ON This track cycling facility was built for the 2015 Pan American Games and incorporated a 250-metre timber track with spectator seating for 2,500. After the games, the velodrome has served as a multi-sport facility with seating for 1,500. BKL was responsible for all aspect of the acoustical design up to and including commissioning.

Surrey Sports and Leisure Complex

Surrey, BC

Acoustical design for sports complex including internal acoustical treatment, noise isolation and HVAC noise control.

Saskatchewan Place (SaskTel Centre)

Saskatoon, SK

BKL provided comprehensive acoustical design services for this 16,000 seats event venue. In addition, the firm designed and specified a distributed arena sound reinforcement system incorporating forty computerized audio channels, famous for “The Wave”. This arena is home to the Saskatoon Blades Western Hockey League team but is also a popular venue for concerts.

Red Deer Leisure Centre

Red Deer, AB

BKL was responsible for acoustics, noise control and HVAC noise and vibration isolation for entire project including a very large field house, large indoor soccer centres, indoor running track/mall, and a dedicated gymnastics facility and an ice arena.

Bill Copeland Arena

Burnaby, BC

This 2,000 seats multi-purpose facility is used primily for hockey but also accommodates up to 4,500 people for concerts. BKL was responsible for acoustical design, noise control and noise isolation throughout the facility including the main arena and all ancillary spaces; noise and vibration control for HVAC system and audio design throughout.

College of Kinesiology

University of Saskatchewan

Acoustics and noise control for 2500-seat NBA size arena plus a multitude of other fitness and educational facilities.

Olympic Speed Skating Oval

Calgary, AB

Design of interior finishes and HVAC control for facility built for the Calgary Olympics.

Surrey Family YMCA

Surrey, BC

Complete room acoustics and noise control design for pool, gyms, exercise facilities, atrium and day-care centre for an integrated family fitness and recreation facility, including a rooftop running track.

Featured Case Study

Squint Lake Park Pickleball Courts
Civic & Community

Squint Lake Park Pickleball Courts

Squint Lake Park is a public park in Burnaby that includes pickleball courts for community recreation. As part of planned improvements to the park, the City of Burnaby proposed installing an acoustic barrier to help reduce noise transmission from pickleball activities to nearby residences. We were retained to assess the effectiveness of the acoustic barrier after installation. Our work focused on measuring noise levels before and after the barrier was installed, comparing the results, and providing an initial technical assessment of the barrier's noise reduction performance. To evaluate the effectiveness of the acoustic barrier, we delivered the following scope: By carrying out measurements before and after the acoustic barrier was installed, we provided field data to support an objective evaluation of the barrier's performance under normal operating conditions at the pickleball courts. The work helped the project in the following ways: Working closely with the City and using real-world, site-specific data, we evaluated the acoustical benefits of a pickleball noise barrier. Our team deployed a proven assessment methodology, based on our experience on past pickleball projects, and gathered objective measurement data that helped inform the City's decision-making process. Explore Our Case Studies Have a project in mind? Get in touch today.

Learn More