San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) has expanded its gallery space to 45,000-sq-ft feet to present its modern and contemporary art. Part of a three-year renovation, the gallery called on Meyer Sound to provide sound systems throughout.

A highlight of the collaboration is the redesigned 275-seat Phyllis Wattis Theater, located at the heart of the museum where the original Mario Botta-designed building integrates with the Snøhetta-designed, ten-storey addition. Here the architects turned to San Francisco-based EHDD for a Meyer Sound Constellation acoustic system. Together with Meyer Sound cinema and reinforcement systems, Constellation supports a range of public events planned for the theatre – ranging from film series, live music, and dance performances to lectures and panel discussions.

‘We consulted with the designers and acousticians at Meyer Sound, who were able to create a Constellation system perfect for the space,’ says Duncan Ballash, principal and president of EHDD. ‘Not only did Constellation ensure great acoustic results, but it gave the EHDD team the architectural freedom to design the room with a sleek and modern look, without sacrificing acoustical integrity. Ultimately, Constellation ended up inspiring and working integrally with the architectural design of the Wattis.’

Constellation allows the theatre to provide adapt its acoustics by adjusting the room’s reverberation time and strength – with a tap on an iPad. A D-Mitri digital audio platform provides the backbone for Constellation, and hosts the VRAS acoustical algorithm. This works in conjunction with 24 distributed microphones and 93 small, self-powered loudspeakers discreetly mounted on walls and ceiling.

‘As an institution, we pride ourselves on working with the very best – from artists to architects, curators to chefs,’ say Neal Benezra, Helen and Charles Schwab director of SFMOMA. ‘We’re willing to look globally for the finest, but we were so pleased to find world-class sound solutions just across the Bay at Meyer Sound. This is a collaboration that can grow along with the museum into the future.’

With the fully equipped Wattis Theater in place, SFMOMA has primed itself to be a major film venue in the Bay Area by partnering with the San Francisco Film Society to present the film series Modern Cinema. ‘Our cinema system is critical in offering an immersive experience to everyone, no matter where in the house they’re sitting,’ says Benezra. ‘This is something we’ve never been able to offer to the full extent.’


Multiple conference and meeting rooms throughout the new building also feature Meyer Sound solutions to provide intelligibility and sonic flexibility for a wide range of needs. Three sleek CAL column array loudspeakers with advanced beam-steering technology provide sound for various pop-up events in the Haas Jr atrium.

An unusual, double-height event and performance space, the Gina and Stuart Peterson White Box will use a UPJunior VariO loudspeaker system for events spanning live performance to site specific commissions. Further UPJunior-XP VariO, UP-4XP, and Stella-8C installation loudspeakers with MM-10XP subwoofers provide sound for K-12 programming in the Koret Education Center. The 4,800-sq-ft space, featuring a resource library and two classrooms, will serve 55,000 K-12 school children and a new series of adult education classes annually.

All Meyer Sound systems in SFMOMA were provided and installed by integrator BBI Engineering of San Francisco. Acoustical engineering firm Arup of San Francisco consulted on the project.