Acoustic rehabilitation of the former royal tobacco factory, headquarters of the university of Seville: A global assessment

Abstract

The former Royal Tobacco Factory in Seville is one of the most important civic buildings built in Spain in the eighteenth century, and was also the setting for Bizet's opera Carmen. Since the inauguration of the Law Faculty in 1954 it has served as the headquarters for the University of Seville, with a ground plan of 185 147 m. Major renovation work is currently being carried out following a master plan executed by the University of Seville, and supervised by the Andalusian regional government's Department of Culture. This aims to significantly modify the current uses of many of its spaces and strengthen the building's heritage value. As part of this master plan, a team from the University of Seville's Institute of Architecture and Building Science has carried out an acoustic study of the different spaces within the building, almost all covered with some sort of vault. This will establish the renovations needed to ensure suitable acoustic conditions for the use of these spaces as classrooms, offices, meeting rooms, administration offices, and even a university cafeteria and canteen. The work we are presenting shows a global overview of the methodology used in the study, including an initial survey on site and simulation techniques based on raytracing, to assess different solutions. We also include the conclusions regarding the correction of acoustics and preservation of the building's heritage value to be incorporated into the master plan.