Background
We were appointed to advise on the acoustic design of the proposed Innovation Hub, named Ascend, located on the first floor of the existing Pentagon Shopping Centre, Chatham. The proposed refurbishment will convert existing empty retail units into office space including co-working spaces, private offices and meeting rooms.
Lead Architect for the scheme is LSI.
What we did
Offices are not subject to statutory regulations for acoustic design, however we proposed acoustic performance criteria for this development to achieve a suitable level of quality based on client requirements and expectations.
At stage 4, we established appropriate acoustic criteria following guidance detailed within relevant British Standards alongside documents such as the British Council for Offices guidance (BCO) and The Finishes and Interior Sector guide (FIS).
The BCO Guide to Fit-out and BCO Guide to Specification sets out the best-practice acoustic advice for office environments. This includes internal noise ratings for building services and external noise intrusion, acoustic privacy and separation, electronic sound masking systems, reverberation times and acoustic screens in open plan areas.
British Standard BS 8233: 2014: Sound insulation and noise reduction for buildings – Code of practice also provides guideline values for internal noise levels (all noise sources) within office spaces. Targeting a minimum noise level to provide masking sound is also important to achieve good speech privacy.
Acoustic strategy
Our acoustic strategy considered the following key areas:
• Appropriate internal ambient noise levels for the various work activity types.
• Good speech comfort and room acoustics for both conversational speech, group meetings and video conferencing.
• Confidence in the acoustic privacy provided by rooms intended for confidential conversations.
We undertook a sound mapping exercise to highlight the various office areas with either noisy activity and/or high noise sensitivity. Acoustic zones include:
• Loud zones includes areas such as comms, server rooms and coffee/bar
• Mixed zones communal space, meeting/event space
• Quiet zones open plan office areas
• Good Privacy areas cellular offices
• Confidential and Sensitive areas meeting rooms
We also provided guidance on the categorisation of cellular work spaces for their acoustic sensitivity into three grades of acoustic separation:
• Standard cellular office accommodation where no special acoustic control provisions are necessary or expected
• Private offices where the sound of speech from an adjacent work area may be discernible above the background noise level, but without the ability to understand what is being said;
• Confidential offices where little or no sound or speech will be heard above the background noise
Project Progress
Construction has started and Ascend is due to open Autumn 2024.
For more information on our involvement in this wider regeneration project, click here to learn how we are also guiding the acoustic design of the Healthy Living Centre.
