Recording sounds in Building 15 was difficult, especially to invoke any particular kind of mood or idea, as the bulk of the building is best understood visually. I recorded a little context, that is, the music from the Alumni Courtyard which you can see from inside the building’s stairway. The new, glassy structure is very open and noisy, filled with the hissing of a air duct. The stairs are hard, and so walking on them makes footsteps sound rather loud. The lift in this part of the building is a nice change, however even the lift makes it’s own loud, screeching sounds. I walked out of here to record some open air and make my way into the other half of the building. In this part it’s even quieter and simplistic in terms of sound. As this building is mainly offices, the hallways are quiet to cater for this. There is plenty of carpet in the long hallways that absorb a decent amount of sound. One distinct sound though is the squealing of the wooden doors at the entrance, however rare it is for someone to come into the building, and this echoes through the stairwell.

In almost every way this part of the building reflects it’s roots as one of function and not of beauty, but it makes it a little dull to observe in that way. The newer part is a lot more pleasing to look at, but offers very little as a soundscape as the loud air duct dampens a lot of the sound that occurs in it, hiding any nuances that might be there. Neither parts of the building have many moving parts, so the sounds certainly reflect it’s stationary nature.