dBx Acoustics

3 Things We Should Put Right in Residential Acoustic Design

Sounding Off – Acoustics in Residential Design

At first glance, it seems as though residential development is one of the few area where there is a clear, documented requirement for acoustic design. From planning noise impact, through to design and pre-completion testing in accordance with Approved Document E of the Building Regulations. There’s a standard which needs to be complied with. Why, then, are there still so many noise complaints from residents?

In our opinion, three main things need to be put right in residential acoustic design.

Planning

BS 8233:2014 sets standards for internal noise levels in residences (from external noise sources) which allow appropriate conditions for rest and sleep. These standards are compatible with World Health Organisation recommendations and strike a good balance between health and amenity, and practicality. The problem is local authorities are patchy in whether and how they require developers to demonstrate that the standard is met.

From the developer’s point of view, commissioning an acoustic assessment for planning can lead to additional costs if it shows that natural ventilation via open windows isn’t an appropriate solution. It’s therefore vital that the Local Planning Authority take responsibility in ensuring the appropriate design of all new residential developments. Whilst it might increase initial costs to the developer, the relative savings in terms of residents’ health and well being should outweigh this.

Design Standards

Approved Document E (ADE) sets airborne (controlling e.g. voices and music) and impact (e.g. controlling footfall) sound insulation standards between residential units. However, in our opinion, the acoustic standard required by Approved Document E isn’t a high one. We often investigate sites where there are complaints of noise disturbance, where we find that ADE has been met.

We’ve noticed an increasing trend for developers to require that ADE exceeds by at least 5 dB. This seems to provide a greater perception of quality for potential tenants as well as reducing the likelihood of disturbance. The uptake of this enhanced performance criterion suggests that it does not significantly impact developer costs. This makes us wonder whether the next revision of the Building Regulations will see this built in as a requirement.

(Don’t!) Do It Yourself

Finally, something we see often is a developer who believes they can design and build in compliance with ADE without consulting an acoustician. Developers who build multiple units on multiple sites to a standard design can certainly get away with this. However, more bespoke sites or refurbishments are fraught with danger for the unsuspecting. Acoustic separation between units is controlled not only by the specification of the partition, but also by how it connects to the partitions around it, and by any sockets and pipework. Did you know you also need to provide some reverberation control to common areas? How about the acoustic requirement for corridor walls and doors? Is the acoustic performance of your separating floor going to be compromised by those recessed lights?

Getting to completion, then failing the acoustic testing required by Building Control is an expensive mistake. There’s no ‘quick fix’ product. This often means significant demolition of the partitions you so lovingly installed to solve the problem. If in doubt, you should engage an acoustic consultant to help you through the design before going on to pre completion testing.

Do You Need Help?

Whoever you turn to, be sure that they are appropriately qualified. Individual acoustic consultants should be members of the Institute of Acoustics (MIOA). To carry out pre-completion testing, consultancies should have either a UKAS or the Association of Noise Consultants (ANC) accreditation.

If you need help and advice with any aspect of residential acoustic design, from planning through to testing, dBx Acoustics would be happy to help!

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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