Girton College, Cambridge.

The Project

The Acoustic Plaster solution for Girton is a vibrant community of scholars, from all walks of life, united in their passion for learning, and determined to do well. The stunning buildings and grounds were being extensively extended and refurbished which included the addition of a new swimming pool area.

The designers understood that noise reverberation would be an issue within the space which has hard floor and furnishings with internal walls being face brickwork and required some sound absorbent materials to the ceiling area to absorb the sound to create a calm and coherent atmosphere coupled with a monolithic appearance to maintain minimalistic design of the space.

The Solution

In May 2013 Pacy and Wheatley were employed to provide Ambient Acoustic plaster system by Mansells Construction to install a 32mm system to control the reverberation to ensure perfect swimming pool room acoustics. The area requiring absorption was a pitched ceiling with truss ties spanning the width of the pool with shadow details to each abutment and shadow line to the perimeters with the late introduction of a curved ridge line. P&W Acoustics liaised with Mansells and the designers throughout and created the ambience without sacrifice to the development.

David Callow Mansell Construction's Site Manager said:

"The acoustic ceiling installation has gone quite well, barring a few detailing changes. Despite these, the access difficulties and limited storage area your team completed on programme and were very accommodating to our site circumstances.

More importantly the Architect has inspected the ceiling and is also very happy with the finished article."