dBx Acoustics

School Acoustics – Can You Hear Me At The Back?

There appears to be a malaise within the design and construction industry when it comes to the importance of good acoustic design in our schools and academies. Of course, not being able to hear the teacher clearly can, for some children, be an unfettered joy. For the vast majority of conscientious teachers and pupils, however, the effects of bad acoustic design can lead to an educational life of underachievement, frustration and ultimately, failure.

Good school acoustic design can not only decrease both speaker and listener fatigue, it also provides a happier, more comfortable environment with fewer distractions, enabling both teachers and pupils to work effectively. For example, research shows that noise levels within classrooms can be correlated to pupil performance, with excessive noise having a detrimental effect on test scores (noise affects the processing of verbal and non-verbal tasks, particularly with regard to reading).

Research has also shown that good acoustic conditions improves pupil behaviour – and this isn’t the only benefit to teachers, who are less likely to suffer from voice strain when acoustic conditions are correct.

Unfortunately, too often we fail to consider acoustics as an integral part of building design. It’s not so much bad practice, as a difficulty integrating current building design and learning requirements such as exposed soffits, open plan learning and flexible space, with good acoustics which traditionally means cellularisation, solid walls and acoustically absorbent ceilings.

Traditionally part of the problem has lain in Building Bulletin 93 (BB93), which has been relied on by designers as a bible for acoustic design in education, but has been found in many areas to have given inadequate advice. This is being remedied by the release of the Education Funding Agency’s document Acoustic Design Standards for the Priority Schools Building Project which can now be used as an alternative performance standard in place of BB93 for all new projects. It is hoped that this document will eventually supersede BB93 altogether.

Unfortunately, within the Building Regulations which govern school design, there is still no requirement for post-completion acoustic testing to demonstrate compliance. This means that often the stated design standard is not enforced, or despite the good intentions of the design team, errors in construction (something as simple as an improperly sealed cable penetration) mean that the required standard is not achieved on site.

The EFA standards make a big leap from BB93 in proposing a minimum standard for new elements fitted within a refurbishment, where previously none applied. These same standards are also proposed as the minimum acceptable standard where alternative performance standards are proposed (and those alternatives must be justifiable). Unfortunately, again, this is not enforceable within the current Building Regulations and as such acoustics is often ignored altogether in such schemes and regarded as an unnecessary cost.

There are a host of things the design and construction industry can do to help the situation including:

  • Allowing acousticians to engage directly with the school rather than being kept at arms length. This enables us to address specific concerns, understand how individual schools operate, and what their acoustic aspirations are – delivering a bespoke design rather than risking a “belt and braces” overspecification.
  • Integrated design – seeing acoustics as a fundamental part of the design team rather than as a “bolt on” can save money and lead to better design.

It is imperative that the education sector realises the importance of good acoustics as an integral (early) part of the school design process. It is also vital, however, that acousticians continue to push for a greater understanding of the importance of acoustic conditions in schools, ensuring that our advice, which has a massive educational impact, is definitely heard at the back.

If you are designing an educational facility – or if you work in one where the acoustics aren’t working for you – please get in touch. We’d be delighted to hear from you.

Office Acoustics – Demand Better!

What’s the problem with office acoustics? 

As Julian Treasure  points out in one of his TED talks, architects and designers tend to focus exclusively on the eyes. “They use them to design with, and they design for them”. As a result, many of us end up spending our working lives packed into open plan offices that sound a lot like this.

Recent research findings on office noise. 

Kim and Dear (2013) found that around 60% of office workers are dissatisfied with sound privacy, and around 30% are dissatisfied with noise level.

The most recent research from the Leesman Index paints an even worse picture:

  • Noise levels are the tenth most commonly cited “important part of an effective workplace” (behind desk, chair, computer equipment etc).
  • 75% of people consider noise important.
  • Only around 25% of people are satisfied with noise conditions in their workplace.

Why do we put up with this? Surely as acousticians, architects and interior designers, we have a responsibility to deliver spaces where people will perform at their best. Unfortunately, budget constraints are often an issues, and acoustics is neglected in favour of visible design elements.

From your ears straight to the bottom line.

This may be a huge mistake. Are you aware that this noise reduces the productivity of knowledge workers in an open plan office setting by 66%? (Banbury & Berry, 1998)

If we can work that much more effectively in good acoustic conditions, it stands to reason we can make our organisations more profitable, just by considering acoustic as well as architectural and interior design.

But let’s not stop there. If we reduce noise, and allow people appropriate conditions in which to work (which may include quiet rooms to retreat to), it’s not unreasonable to expect that this might make them healthier, and happier – meaning less profit lost due to sickness and recruitment (Evans & Johnson, 2000, Pejtersen et al 2011).

The spend on acoustic design is a one off. The benefits will last you forever.

Our campaign for better office acoustics.

Throughout 2014, dBx Acoustics is committed to raising awareness of the many benefits of good acoustic design in the workplace, and in particular office acoustics. We will be publishing a series of articles, audio demonstrations and examples of good and bad practice, as well as keeping you updated on our progress.

We have already started a survey to find out how people feel about sound in their workspaces. Please join in – it only takes a couple of minutes to complete.

If you are an architect, interior designer or office user who would like to get involved, let us know.

If you work in an office which you think is great, or terrible, we’d also love to hear from you; we want to gather data on what makes a good office!

How can dBx Acoustics help?

We are highly qualified, award-winning acoustic designers with significant experience of office acoustic design. We can work as part of your design team to make sure all aspects of acoustics are considered, from building services noise to reverberation control, ensuring good speech intelligibility. We can also advise on sound insulation between cellular spaces, preventing confidential conversations from being overheard and providing appropriate privacy to meeting rooms and offices.

We understand that your eyes will never be unimportant when designing a workspace, so we can suggest a range of acoustic options to fit with your aesthetic requirements.

We can also help you to consider the layout of your open plan space, positioning teams with differing noise generation and tolerance profiles to control disturbance as far as possible.

Our experience.

Our lead acoustic designer, Susan Witterick, has 16 years experience of office design, including well-known schemes such as:

New build:

  • Chiswick Place, London (with Arup Acoustics)
  • Airbus new office building (with Capita Symonds)
  • Matalan HQ, Knowsley (with Capita Symonds)

Fit out:

  • KPMG, various schemes (with Capita Symonds and dBx Acoustics)
  • Western Digital, Irvine, California (with Newson Brown Acoustics)
  • Dresdener Kleinwort, 30 Gresham Street (with Applied Acoustic Design)

 Most recently, dBx Acoustics has been involved in the design of high-privacy meeting space for a confidential client in London.

Act now – make a difference.

It’s never too late. Whether you are considering a new build or a move to a new office, or have issues in your existing offices, we can help. Contact us now for a complementary 30-minute consultation. With offices in London and Manchester, we consult nationwide.

References

Banbury, Simon, and Dianne C. Berry. “Disruption of office‐related tasks by speech and office noise.” British Journal of Psychology 89.3 (1998): 499-517.

Evans, Gary W., and Dana Johnson. “Stress and open-office noise.” Journal of Applied Psychology 85.5 (2000): 779.

Kim, Jungsoo, and Richard de Dear. “Workspace satisfaction: The privacy-communication trade-off in open-plan offices.” Journal of Environmental Psychology 36 (2013): 18-26.

Pejtersen, Jan H., et al. “Sickness absence associated with shared and open-plan offices—a national cross sectional questionnaire survey.” Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health (2011): 376-382.

The Leesman Review 13-2 (May 2013) available at http://leesmanindex.com/leesman-resources

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