What we did

This faith school, located next to the busy Edgware Road in North London, was building an extension for which natural ventilation was a key feature. Unusually, the extension plan also had the multi-use main hall on the upper floor with classrooms underneath.

Both specifications were key considerations particular to this project, for which we:

• Conducted a noise survey of external road traffic on the Edgware Road;
• Identified which façades could have open windows for natural ventilation;
• Worked with the architect in the development of the design using acoustic techniques that would control disturbance from the main hall to the classrooms;
• Reviewed the wall and door constructions against the requirements of Building Bulletin 93: Acoustic Design of Schools.

Acoustic features of this project

The results of our external site noise survey enabled the architect to design the extension such that open windows could be suitably positioned to provide natural ventilation, despite the very high noise levels from the busy urban trunk road.

Together with the architect, we also developed the construction of the main hall floors to minimise the impact noise from the various activities, including PE, in the hall transferring down to the classrooms below.

The project team

Architect: JM Architects
Quantity Surveyors: BTP Group
Acoustics: Adnitt Acoustics