Category: Education
London University Acoustic Plaster System
The Project
Pacy and Wheatley Acoustics have completed an
Posted in Education, Education, New Case Study
Pacy & Wheatley have recently completed the installation of a specialist acoustic plaster system for Queen’s School at Eton College in Windsor, Berkshire. As part of a larger development, Queens School has received an inventive and fantastic roof space which provides a multi-purpose, all year round, project based classroom with a double storey greenhouse and large electronic teaching panels with fully digital displays. The area also comes with astrology viewing areas, all of which required treatment to ensure the space was peaceful and have no unwanted reverberation. Pacy & Wheatley Acoustics were invited to tender for the exciting transformation of the old Northgate House building into the new Cheng Yu Tung building, which is part of Jesus College in Oxford. The project is the largest transformation of Jesus College since the 17th century. Located in the heart of Oxford, the building is undergoing major refurbishment, and the architect approached us about providing our Class A Rockfon Mono Acoustic to numerous areas of the building. The project includes new educational and recreational spaces for its students along with student accommodation. Pacy and Wheatley Acoustics installed an Ambient Acoustic Plaster system in coordination of a refurbishment, and new extension to the Jesus College, one of the leading colleges in the University of Cambridge. The college was established between 1496 and 1516 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Mary and St Radegund, which included a large church and was maintained at the center and houses the university. The refurbishment and new extension of the grade II listed Webb building provides social spaces, comprising of a basement bar, new Café, pavilion offices and accommodation. The café and bar areas required acoustic absorption, to ensure a great ambience. This meant removing a large amount of reverberation for social and quiet time within the college life. Pacy & Wheatley have recently completed the installation of a specialist acoustic plaster system for Homerton College based in Cambridge as part of the construction of a new main dining hall; the building was a state of the art design utilising timber architecture. A feature, inverted roof was installed with glulam trusses and oak panelling making up the perimeter. The hall was designed by architects Fielden Fowles who created a great space and understood that they may have issues on an acoustical front which would require absorption being installed within the area. Pacy & Wheatley were contacted by the principal contractor Barnes Construction to assist and following a number of differing products being offered settled with the Fade 25mm system offering a class B absorption over the sloping soffit. We installed 440m2 of the system which has a smooth, pure white finish to complement the room’s features. The installation itself was quite awkward due to its height but the main contractor installed a great scaffold for our team to work from which helped the quality of the installation. The absorption in the space has worked wonders and the diners can enjoy the atmosphere in the space much better with controlled reverberation. Pacy & Wheatley have recently completed the installation of a specialist acoustic spray system for Castleford Park Junior Academy in Castleford. The academy was built in 1903 and has seen various refurbishments over the years including an extension. There is an old school building attached with a dining hall at the centre and classrooms surrounding it. The dining hall has a high ceiling with feature beams and ties across it, supporting the visible purlins. Painted surfaces are located in between on various pitches at a height of 8.4 metres high and a footprint of around 180m2 creating a very open space to enjoy for lunchtimes and after school clubs. The high ceiling and sports hall floor result in poor acoustics throughout the hall. A test confirmed that the hall has a very high reverberation time of around 4.5 seconds, making it unhealthy and unpleasant for the pupils and teachers who are dining. 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. 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. “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.” The New Humanities building at the Queen Mary University required acoustic treatment to the main lecture theatre. The ceiling design was complicated with a series of radial suspended acoustic panels incorporating small up stands. Architects Wilkinson Eyre in conjunction with Acoustic Engineers Arup specified a spray acoustic plaster to the suspended areas. Pacy and Wheatley Acoustics were able to accommodate the design requirements with their Ambient Acoustic Plaster System. Budgetary constraints determined we were asked to value engineer the acoustic ceiling system. Working with contractors Walrite Ltd a reduced spray area was agreed in line with updated acoustic reports bringing a very satisfactory conclusion to project.Specialist Acoustic Plaster System, Berkshire
The Project
Acoustic Ceiling Installation Oxford
The Project
Ambient Acoustic Plaster Installation, Cambridge
The Project
Specialist Acoustic Plaster, Cambridge
The Project
The Solution
Specialist Acoustic Spray System, Castleford
The Project
Acoustic Plaster System – Keble College, Oxford
The Project
Pacy and Wheatley Acoustics have completed an instalment of a Acoustic Plaster system at Keble College. The college in central Oxford was having extensive modernisation, with a new HB Allen centre that would have 230 new rooms for research facilities and graduates residences surrounding a central quad area. There are lecture facilities, small event rooms and small meeting areas including a 2nd floor space, with full glass surround overlooking the beautiful surrounding buildings in central Oxford.
The Solution
Pacy and Wheatley, through relationship between ourselves and MICA architects, were engaged by AT jones, who had also worked on previous projects, to assist and carry out the installation of the specialist acoustic plaster system. The spaces that were required and the product fitted in well to all the spaces requiring absorption from private office to seminar rooms.
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Girton College, Cambridge
The Project
The Solution
David Callow Mansell Construction’s Site Manager said:
Queen Mary University, London
The Project
The Solution
