The recent Architectural Record Continuing Education: Acoustics article says the "Old Post Office Idea Exchange...represents a new breed of library...intended as dynamic, gathering places...they address more challenging acoustic issues than libraries have historically faced."
In the article RDHA principal Tyler Sharp describes how materials were selected for both their acoustics and aesthetic qualities. "The Idea Exchange primarily uses perforated acoustic drywall to achieve the desired Noise Reduction Coefficients (NRCs). The material meets a budget that Tyler Sharp, principal at RDHA, describes as difficult, given the ambitions of the project. But it also has desired aesthetic qualities, says Sharp. Its continuous, uniform dot pattern flows evenly across the atrium ceiling’s angular geometry, and the dots relate neatly to the pattern of the curtain wall’s ceramic frit.”
Note that in the Spring 2018 the client updated the project name to Idea Exchange Old Post Office.