The sound experience in the converted buildings. Case of Bejaia’s kasbah library
The sound experience in the converted buildings. Case of Bejaia’s kasbah library

Summary/Abstract: Adaptive reuse of heritage buildings is a viable option for giving them a second life because it is less expensive and energy efficient. However, to think of preserving a building without thinking about reviving its ambiances would be to preserve the envelope without the soul. Through the acoustic environment analysis, this research was conducted to determine the quality of historic building reconversion in Algeria. We’ve decided to concentrate on the acoustic environment in medieval Islamic structures. The library of the Kasbah in Bejaia was our choice. It was built in 1797 to serve as a mosque, although it has been altered numerous times since then. We carried out in-situ acoustic measurements and then distributed a closed questionnaire to three categories of people: users, staff members, and outsiders. The conversion of the mosque into a library was fraught with two significant issues. The first was technical: there was no acoustic study, resulting in a poor fit between absorbing and reflecting materials. The second was functional: there is no clear boundary between the reading room for readers and the workspace for staff members.

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