Micro-Perforated Acoustic Panel Solution for Sunway University Theatre, Malaysia

LEEYIN supplied the acoustic engineering solution for this Malaysian theatre project, using micro-perforated acoustic panels to introduce sound absorption without interrupting the warm, sculptural interior. The completed auditorium combines a large proscenium stage, stalls and balcony seating, faceted wall planes, curved ceiling bands and integrated linear lighting. In a room of this scale, the acoustic treatment has to work as part of the architecture rather than as an applied finish.

Project Overview

Item	Project information
Project	Sunway University Theatre / JCPAC Proscenium Theatre
Location	Sunway Square, Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Venue type	Large proscenium performing arts theatre
Publicly stated capacity	1,200 seats
LEEYIN scope confirmed by the project brief	Acoustic engineering solution and micro-perforated acoustic panel treatment
Principal acoustic objective	Control reverberant energy and disruptive reflections while supporting speech, music and amplified performances
Architectural character	Warm wood finish, faceted side walls, curved ceiling elements and integrated linear lighting
Product reference	Fire-Retardant Perforated Wood Acoustic Panel
Evidence boundary	Exact panel model, quantity, hole pattern, backing, cavity depth, fire classification and measured room-acoustic results were not supplied for publication

Project in one sentence: LEEYIN integrated a micro-perforated acoustic panel solution into the theatre’s geometric interior to provide passive sound absorption while maintaining the visual continuity of its wood-finish walls and ceiling zones.

Key Takeaways

• A 1,200-seat theatre needs controlled sound decay, but it should not be made uniformly “dead.” Absorption, reflection and diffusion must be balanced around the room.
• Micro-perforated acoustic panels can combine an architectural wood appearance with concealed acoustic function when the face pattern, backing and cavity are engineered as a complete system.
• Faceted surfaces require close coordination between acoustic intent, panel fabrication, support framing, lighting, access panels, joints and installation tolerances.
• The supplied photographs confirm construction-stage installation and a completed integrated interior; they do not establish a numerical NRC, fire rating or achieved reverberation time.
• Performance-space commissioning should be based on project criteria and field measurements, not appearance alone.

Venue Context: A Theatre Designed for Varied Performance Formats

Sunway Education Group describes JCPAC as a new arts and culture hub at Sunway Square in Bandar Sunway. Its two principal venues are a 1,200-seat Proscenium Theatre and a 150-seat Experimental Theatre, intended to accommodate formats ranging from large touring productions to black-box work. The opening season began in August 2026 and included local and international theatre, music, dance, film and comedy programming.

That range matters acoustically. A spoken-word event benefits from short, controlled decay and strong intelligibility. Drama and musical theatre need clarity, localisation and reliable electroacoustic support. Orchestral and other acoustic music require useful early energy, tonal balance and a sense of envelopment. The passive room treatment therefore provides the stable acoustic foundation on which stage systems, sound reinforcement and production-specific adjustments can operate.

The Acoustic Challenge

Managing sound energy in a large-volume auditorium

In a large theatre, sound travels through many paths before reaching the audience. Direct sound arrives first, followed by early reflections from nearby surfaces and then later reflections from the wider room. Some reflected energy is desirable because it supports loudness, presence and musical blend. Too much late or uneven energy, however, can blur speech, reduce definition and create noticeable differences between the stalls, balcony and side seating.

The design problem is therefore not simply “add more absorption.” It is to place the right amount of absorption in the right zones while preserving helpful reflections. Side walls, rear areas, balcony fronts, ceiling elements, stage surroundings and seating all influence the final decay pattern and spatial impression.

Preventing large decorative surfaces from becoming acoustic liabilities

The completed theatre is defined by dramatic faceted side walls and sweeping ceiling forms. Visually, these planes create movement and frame the stage. Acoustically, large hard panels can produce strong specular reflections. If opposite or concave surfaces reinforce the same path, listeners may perceive flutter, harshness, image shift or a late echo.

The solution was to give selected architectural surfaces a sound-absorbing role. The micro-perforated panel treatment allows the walls to retain a consistent wood-finish appearance while admitting sound energy into an engineered backing and cavity assembly.

Coordinating acoustics with geometry, lighting and construction

The construction photograph shows extensive scaffolding around an irregular, three-dimensional wall system. Each visible facet depends on accurate setting out. Acoustic openings must remain functional after finishing; panel joints must follow the design lines; subframes must hold the intended angles; and light channels, doors, service points and maintenance access must be coordinated without creating obvious visual breaks or unintended sound leaks.

What Is a Micro-Perforated Acoustic Panel?

A micro-perforated acoustic panel is a rigid architectural facing containing a controlled pattern of small openings. When sound passes through those openings, friction and resonance within the holes and the cavity behind the face convert part of the acoustic energy into heat. The complete assembly—not the decorative face alone—determines the absorption response.

In this project case, “micro-perforated” follows the terminology provided in LEEYIN’s project brief. The linked product family is a perforated wood acoustic panel. The exact hole diameter, pitch, open area, panel thickness, backing layer and air-cavity depth used at Sunway were not included in the publishable source package and should be confirmed from the approved project submittal.

LEEYIN’s Acoustic Engineering Solution

1. Integrating absorption into the architectural finish

Rather than introducing visually separate fabric absorbers across the principal room surfaces, the design uses wood-finish acoustic panels as part of the architectural composition. This approach keeps the theatre visually unified and enables acoustic treatment to follow the faceted wall geometry.

The small openings in the panel face provide the acoustic pathway. Behind the face, the specified cavity and any absorptive backing influence how much energy is dissipated across the frequency range. The assembly can be tuned through perforation geometry and cavity design, but project-specific values should always be based on laboratory data for the complete tested build-up.

2. Controlling reverberant build-up

Audience seating absorbs a meaningful amount of mid- and high-frequency energy, especially when occupied. The room still requires permanent treatment because occupancy changes, low-frequency behaviour and reflections from walls and ceilings cannot be controlled by seats alone. The micro-perforated panel system adds distributed passive absorption to architectural surfaces, helping reduce excessive sound build-up and stabilise the room’s baseline response.

3. Breaking up potentially disruptive reflection paths

The side-wall geometry changes the orientation of adjacent planes. That geometry can redistribute reflected sound, while the perforated acoustic faces reduce the strength of selected reflections. Used together, shaping and absorption help avoid relying on one acoustic mechanism. The design can preserve useful lateral energy while reducing the risk of strong, repetitive paths between large surfaces.

4. Supporting amplified and natural performance

For amplified productions, a controlled passive room response improves clarity and gives the sound system more predictable conditions. For unamplified or lightly amplified events, the room still needs sufficient acoustic life and beneficial reflection. The panel solution should therefore be understood as part of a balanced theatre design—not as blanket absorption intended to remove all reverberation.

5. Maintaining a coherent audience experience

Distributed treatment helps reduce sharp transitions between acoustically live and dry zones. In a multi-level auditorium, this is important because the balcony overhang, room width and distance from the stage already create different acoustic conditions. Final consistency depends on the full room design and commissioning, but integrated wall treatment provides a practical tool for managing those differences.

How the Acoustic Panel Assembly Works

System element	Acoustic and construction role
Perforated architectural face	Allows sound to enter the system while providing the visible wood-finish surface
Hole diameter, pitch and open area	Influence acoustic resistance and the frequency-dependent response; exact project values are not published
Panel substrate and thickness	Affect structural stability, machining, resonance and finish quality
Acoustic fleece or porous backing, if specified	Can increase flow resistance and broaden absorption while preventing the rear layer from being visible through the holes
Air cavity and optional porous infill	Influence low- and mid-frequency performance; cavity depth must be coordinated with the support system
Subframe and fixings	Hold the faceted geometry, maintain alignment and transfer loads safely
Perimeter, joint and service details	Protect acoustic continuity, appearance, maintainability and fire-stopping strategy

The linked LEEYIN product page is useful as a product-family reference, but it should not replace the project specification. A different hole pattern, rear build-up or mounting depth can materially change absorption. Likewise, fire performance applies to the tested product and assembly described in the relevant report—not automatically to every finish, substrate, backing or installation configuration.

Integrating Acoustic Treatment with the Theatre Interior

Faceted side walls

The most recognisable feature of the room is the network of angular wall planes traced by linear lighting. These facets create a strong identity and provide opportunities to vary reflection direction. The acoustic panels had to align with this geometry so that absorption remained visually discreet. Consistent joint lines, colour and grain direction are especially important under grazing light, which can expose small differences in plane or finish.

Curved upper wall and ceiling zones

The upper room uses broad curved bands that lead the eye toward the stage and balcony. Such areas can influence long reflection paths across the room. Where acoustic panels are used on or near these surfaces, the backing cavity, radius, support spacing and access requirements need to be resolved during shop drawing development rather than improvised on site.

Balcony and audience coverage

The balcony creates a second acoustic environment above and below the overhang. Listeners beneath it receive fewer direct ceiling reflections, while listeners at upper level experience a different relationship with side and rear surfaces. Distributed wall absorption helps manage energy in both volumes, but final tuning should also consider balcony-front behaviour, under-balcony treatment, loudspeaker coverage and seat absorption.

Installation and Coordination Workflow

1. Confirm the acoustic design basis

Before fabrication, the team should confirm room use, occupancy assumptions, target acoustic criteria, surface zoning and the tested panel assembly. The design basis should distinguish between speech-led, amplified and natural performance requirements.

2. Translate the interior geometry into coordinated shop drawings

Each panel module, facet angle, transition, joint and opening needs a buildable reference. Shop drawings should coordinate structure, secondary framing, acoustic cavities, LED channels, doors, diffusers, grilles, sprinklers, detectors and maintenance access.

3. Build and inspect the support system

The subframe establishes the final visible geometry. Plane, spacing, fixing strength and cavity depth should be checked before panels conceal the work. Where porous backing is specified, it should remain continuous and free from compression or gaps that would change performance.

4. Install panels without blocking the perforations

Paint, adhesive squeeze-out, dust and site debris can obstruct small openings. Panels should be handled and cleaned using methods approved for the finish. Fixings and access panels should be detailed to minimise visible disruption and maintain serviceability.

5. Control interfaces and tolerances

Perimeters, corners and service penetrations often determine whether a complex acoustic interior looks intentional. A sample bay or full-scale mock-up can confirm joint widths, light-channel alignment, finish consistency, removable-panel details and the relationship between acoustic faces and adjacent solid surfaces.

6. Inspect and commission the completed room

Visual inspection should confirm damage-free surfaces, open perforations, consistent alignment and complete interface details. Acoustic commissioning should then test the finished room under documented conditions and compare the results with the design criteria.

Performance Goals and Verification

Reverberation and sound decay

The primary objective of distributed absorption is to keep sound decay appropriate for the theatre’s programme. A single reverberation-time number is not enough: octave-band balance, occupied and unoccupied conditions, stage configuration and the variation between receiver positions all affect the result.

Speech clarity and definition

For drama, conferences and musical theatre, direct and early sound should remain distinct from later energy. Relevant project criteria may include speech transmission or clarity measures, but no achieved value was included in the source package for this case study.

Spatial consistency

Measurements should cover representative seats in the stalls, under the balcony, at balcony level and near side or rear boundaries. This reveals whether treatment is producing an even audience experience rather than a good result at only one reference position.

Measurement standard

ISO 3382-1:2009 specifies methods for measuring reverberation time and other room-acoustic parameters in performance spaces. It provides an appropriate framework for field verification, subject to the project’s contract requirements and local codes. This case study does not claim that the Sunway venue was commissioned to that standard because the test report was not supplied.

Project Outcome

The completed auditorium presents the acoustic treatment as architecture. From the audience, the perforated function recedes behind a continuous wood-finish composition, while the faceted planes and illuminated lines give the room a distinctive contemporary identity. From a project-delivery perspective, the installation demonstrates that acoustic panels can be incorporated into complex three-dimensional surfaces when design, fabrication and site coordination are treated as one process.

LEEYIN’s contribution was the acoustic engineering solution using micro-perforated acoustic panels. The project illustrates the central advantage of this system for theatres: it can provide distributed passive absorption without requiring the design team to sacrifice a refined, durable and visually coherent interior.

No numerical acoustic result is published here because a commissioning report was not included in the available project record. For designers and owners evaluating a similar system, the next step should be to define performance criteria, select a tested assembly, coordinate a representative mock-up and verify the completed hall through field measurement.

Lessons for Future Theatre Acoustic Projects

1. Start acoustic coordination before decorative geometry is frozen. Cavity depth, panel module, framing and service routes can affect the visual concept.
2. Specify the complete assembly. A perforated face alone does not define absorption; hole pattern, backing, airspace and mounting conditions work together.
3. Use laboratory data for the proposed build-up. Product-family values should not be transferred to a different construction without evidence.
4. Treat fire documentation as system-specific. Confirm the exact panel, coating, substrate, backing, fixing and installation conditions required by the authority having jurisdiction.
5. Protect perforations during installation. Dust, paint and adhesive can reduce effective open area and spoil the finish.
6. Coordinate lighting through mock-ups. Grazing linear light magnifies alignment and joint defects on faceted panels.
7. Commission the room across multiple positions. A theatre succeeds when acoustic quality is consistent for the audience, not only at the mix position.

Why Use Perforated Wood Acoustic Panels in a Theatre?

Perforated wood panels are often selected when a performance venue needs both architectural refinement and permanent acoustic control. They can be fabricated in coordinated modules, matched to warm interior palettes and applied to walls or selected ceiling zones. When designed with a suitable backing and cavity, they provide predictable sound absorption while leaving other surfaces available for useful reflection.

For architects, the system reduces the visual divide between “acoustic material” and “interior finish.” For acoustic consultants, it provides a tunable surface. For contractors, it creates a repeatable panelised construction—but only when tolerances, access and interfaces are resolved in advance.

Explore the related LEEYIN product family: Fire-Retardant Perforated Wood Acoustic Panel.

Conclusion

The Sunway University / JCPAC Proscenium Theatre case shows how micro-perforated acoustic panels can be incorporated into an ambitious performing arts interior. LEEYIN’s acoustic engineering solution used the panel system to add passive absorption, moderate reverberant build-up and support clearer, more controlled sound while preserving the room’s sculpted wood-finish identity.

Planning a university auditorium, theatre or performing arts centre? Share the room drawings, intended programme, target acoustic criteria and fire requirements with LEEYIN. The team can develop a coordinated panel layout and system specification for the project rather than relying on a generic surface treatment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources and Evidence Notes

• Sunway Education Group: Jeffrey Cheah Performing Arts Centre set to open in August 2026 — venue name, location, 1,200-seat Proscenium Theatre, 150-seat Experimental Theatre and programme context.
• JCPAC official programme and ticket site — current venue identity and programme availability.
• LEEYIN Fire-Retardant Perforated Wood Acoustic Panel — related product-family reference supplied by the client.
• ISO 3382-1:2009 — room-acoustic measurement methods for performance spaces.
• LEEYIN project brief and three supplied photographs — confirmation of LEEYIN’s acoustic engineering solution, use of micro-perforated acoustic panels, construction-stage installation and completed interior.
• Evidence limitation: no publishable bill of quantities, approved technical submittal, laboratory report or room-acoustic commissioning report was supplied. Product dimensions, perforation geometry, absorption values, fire classifications and measured performance have therefore not been represented as Sunway project facts.