EDUCATION MUSIC & DRAMA

Overview

KDA are able to provide a full acoustic design and noise control consultancy package for new-build and refurbishment projects, or any element of that package as a separate service, relevant to educational buildings, drama & music rehearsal studios, performance spaces and music practice rooms.

Discussion

Whilst dedicated theatres and concert halls are invariably designed to meet specific acoustic criteria, when it comes to a school or college assembly hall or music and/or drama facility, the acoustics seem to take a back seat. How often have lessons been ruined by spillage from music practice rooms, or a teacher stressed because of misunderstood speech, or is forced to shout, or cannot comprehend the responses from the class? How many school assemblies, concerts or drama productions are marred because of poor acoustics of the room itself or by the masking effects of extraneous noise such as traffic, weather, or from activities in an adjoining room? There is no excuse for this situation. Since 1975, DoE Building Bulletin #51 "Acoustics in Educational Buildings" has existed to provide highly relevant design guidance. This was superseded in 1998 by two new publications, BB #87 'Guidelines for Environmental Design in Schools' and BB #86 'Music Accommodation in Secondary Schools'.

An educational acoustics package might include any or all of the following elements:-

Acoustic feasibility study including initial site survey, noise climate monitoring, identification of noise sources likely to affect the site and, where appropriate, transmission loss measurements between the critical rooms in the case of an existing building.
Liaison with the design team in achieving a room layout which will meet the client's occupancy requirements, whilst at the same time achieving the necessary acoustic separation between rooms.
The use of computer-based acoustic modelling techniques to predict what is realistically practicable in terms of acoustic separation in the context of the client's needs and the Building Bulletin recommendations, and to develop the constructional forms and any structural isolation requirements necessary to achieve those goals.
Integration within the design team in bringing the design to the tender stage, with all noise control and acoustics related issues in place, including adequate sound insulation by the building shell, adequate acoustic separation between rooms & interior acoustic conditions suited to the intended occupancy. In addition, noise propagation from HVAC plant, boiler rooms etc. would be addressed
Supervision of site works by attendance at site meetings, handover inspections and carrying out any completion testing of plant and systems. All necessary instrumentation resources are available in-house.

The following are some examples of educational projects in which KDA have been involved:-

Alderman Smith School, Nuneaton
KDA were instructed by the architects to oversee the acoustic separation and room acoustic elements of a large drama studio, two orchestral rehearsal studios, six practice rooms and six new classrooms in a Ł1.2M, dedicated music and drama block.

Bablake School, Coventry
The new English & Music Block includes a fully equipped drama & music performance hall where Bleacher seating systems are used to convert the flat studio/workshop floor into a 250 seat, raked auditorium for performances. Additionally, the facility includes an orchestral rehearsal studio, a music studio space, a keyboards studio, a suite of 7 No. practice/tuition rooms, a scenery workshop, 4 new classrooms and a 6th Form recreation area. The site is immediately alongside a railway track with half-hourly diesel units and frequent goods traffic. Accordingly, the drama/music studio/theatre is constructed as a structurally isolated "box-within-a-box" so as to exclude ground-borne vibration and is placed at the core of the building so that it is shielded by two floors of classrooms and other less critical areas.

Lawrence Sheriff School, Rugby
A Ł2M English/Music/Sports Hall extension was constructed without regard to acoustics or noise separation and consequently proved a disaster. KDA were engaged to identify the cause of the problems using a combination of site measurement and computer prediction techniques and to recommend post-completion solutions.