Cohousing-L Mailing List: dining vs. performances: shared or separate spaces?

[Ed_Stauff (Ed_Stauff]

Has anyone had any experience with trying to use the same room for
both dining and for musical performances?  The acoustical needs are
somewhat mutually exclusive: in a dining room you want to dampen and
absorb as much sound as possible, whereas a performance space wants
much livelier acoustics, ideally with a few seconds of reverberation.
Has anyone been successful in adding or removing acoustical elements
(carpet, hangings, room dividers, etc.) to make one space work well
for both purposes?

On the other hand, are there any communities that have justified the
expense of having two separate spaces, one for dining and one for
performances?   Performance-wise, I'm thinking of a space that's
big enough to hold the entire community plus guests, seated.

Thanks,

-- Ed Stauff, Northern Vermont Cohousing

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