Regensburg Synagogue, Germany

After 80 years after the original synagogue was destroyed in 1938, the building hosting the new synagogue and the Jewish community centre has been designed and opened right in the middle of the world cultural heritage historic city centre of Regensburg. With its contemporary architecture language, this wooden building covering 320 m2 rises as a double height volume with a single balcony, where the ceremonies are held at the ground floor both with an amplified and unamplified sound system, for music and speech. Through a close collaboration with Staab Architects, the acoustic design had to be suitable for the service, where the Rabbi speaks in front of the shrine and at the Bima in the centre of the space and needs to be understood by the audience located at the same level and in the upper balcony. The acoustic design integrated into the architectural language where the light is allowed to go through the wooden slats featuring the interior finishes, ensures a good level of speech intelligibility with an amplified and unamplified system and a room acoustics suitable for music events.