Architectural
Acoustics is a many faceted branch of acoustics and acoustic design.
Some of the elements of Architectural Acoustics we specialise in, and
the services we offer are detailed below:
Noise Break-in Assessments
- We carry out environmental monitoring and assessment and testing of
the
sound insulation of a building's facades to specify the correct construction
specification, including glazing and ventilation, to achieve design criteria
as detailed in BS8233:1999.
We
are able to advise private clients on the best specification for them.
Internal Noise Transfer - Acoustic performance of internal partitions
within a dwelling and those which form party partitions between dwellings
are now controlled by Approved document E of the building regulations.
Correct specification of these partitions is important to ensure that
when tested, these part ions meet the requirements of Approved Document
E, without spending more than is required on materials. We have extensive
knowledge of the sound insulation market and offer an independent perspective
on sound insulation treatment and specification. We can also advise clients
with regard to Robust Standard Details (RSD).
Office Acoustics - A poorly
designed acoustic environment can lead to an increase in staff fatigue,
loss of concentration and boredom. A correctly designed acoustic environment
can have a positive impact on staff and a positive effect on work rate
and profitability. Whether for an office or classroom, a lecture
theatre or studio, the acoustic conditions must be carefully controlled
and are most effectively dealt with at the design stage.
We can offer
both computer and physical modeling services and prediction to state-of-the-art
acoustic measurements, including speech clarity. The Sound Solution can
assist and advise you at all stages of the design and build process of
any project.
Speech Privacy - Speech Privacy is, in fact a quantifiable
feature of any room or open plan area. It is a measure of speech versus
the level of background noise and can also be known as the signal to
noise ratio.
The
higher the level of background noise compared with the level of speech,
the greater will be the masking of the speech and hence the privacy of
the conversation. A commonly found example would be to compare having
a conversation in a noisy pub where speech from the adjacent table would
be unintelligible, if not completely inaudible, with a conversation in
a doctors waiting room where even whispered conversation can be clearly
heard all round. In hospitals, a quiet waiting room is not really a problem,
as conversation is unlikely to have a specific privacy requirement. It
is important, however, that the adjacent consulting room is adequately
insulated to a degree which recognises the quiet background conditions
of the adjacent waiting room, or other consulting rooms. Often the designers
will be charged with ensuring low levels of background noise without
adequate consideration of consequent speech privacy problems.
As an alternative
approach to improved sound insulation of such areas requiring speech
privacy, we can consider ensuring an adequate level of background noise.
It is, of course, odd that an acoustic consultant should be advocating
higher noise levels but, where it is done carefully, it can be a highly
effective technique. Some open-plan offices, for instance, actually go
as far as generating noise over a sound system which is not really noticeable
but makes speech from an adjacent desk an unintelligible murmur.
If you have any more questions about sound testing please
call
today on 01904 428 461 'Sound
Advice from Sound People '
NATIONAL COVERAGE WITH OFFICES THROUGHOUT
THE UK
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