What we did

This fee paying independent, music specialist school in Surrey was developing a new music block comprising of group practice rooms, individual practice rooms, a recording studio and a classroom.

Our remit encompassed:

• Providing design advice to the architect on the acoustic performance of their plans and design and, subsequently, advice with regards to an additional classroom extension;
• Site visits to confirm the correct installation of the acoustic elements of the architect’s plans;
• Monitoring of noise and vibration levels throughout the construction of the music block;
• Pre-completion testing to ensure compliance with BB93 acoustic standards.

Acoustic features of this project

Clearly, a dedicated school music block needs to meet the finest of internal acoustic performance standards. Together with the architect, we not only helped to ensure that such standards were achieved but that they were achieved with minimal:

• Noise intrusion from the nearby busy A-road;
• Noise break out from the music studios and practice rooms to the nearby residential student accommodation blocks.

These two critical considerations, together with the school’s limited budget in mind, meant that our design solution had to be:

• Fit for purpose whilst regulatory compliant;
• Sustainable yet cost-effective with prioritised noise isolation and control measures in place.

The project team

Architect: Donovan Hewitt
Acoustics: Adnitt Acoustics