New Office Accommodation

DELIVERING THE SOLUTIONS YOU NEED

We were commissioned by a main contractor to address all the noise and acoustic issues associated with the development of a new block of offices.

The project combined the assessment of external noise for planning and noise break-in purposes; the control of internal noise within the building to ensure compliance BS8233:1999 Sound Insulation and Noise Reduction for Buildings and those of the client.

Offices and BREEAM

The client requirements were for a modern, flexible office environment to be developed to ensure compliance with BS8233 but also with BREEAM Offices (Hea 13 and Pol 8).

For internal acoustics, the requirement was to provide a noise environment that was suitable for open plan office work (noise levels between 40-50dB) whilst providing meeting rooms and offices in this larger space that afforded a quieter environment (typically less than 40dB) and also provided the requisite level of privacy.
Through a combination of building façade design to control noise break-in from the city centre location of the site and detailed design of reverberation control mechanisms and office ‘party’ walls the client requirements and those of BREEAM Hea 13 were also satisfied.

As the office building was designed to have a ‘whole house’ ventilation system we were also tasked with ensuring that the development complied with the requirements of BREEAM Pol 8 (which ensures that plant noise associated with the development does not impact neighbouring properties).

The On Going Project

The development was completed in 2008 showing full compliance with BREEAM Hea 13 and Pol 8. In each instance, validation tests were performed to prove building compliance allowing full credits to be awarded by the BREEAM assessor for the site.

General points to note:

• Stud partition walls can be acoustically more effective than masonry walls.
• Reverberation (‘echo’) control should not be overlooked.
• Internal noise levels and sound insulation determine the level of privacy that can be achieved in ‘individual/single occupancy’ offices.

For further details about how ENS Acoustics can help you with acoustics for office and commercial developments please contact us.