Architecture
With regards to apartment buildings, developers have a requirement to satisfy Section F5 of the Building Code of Australia. In many projects, developer’s now see the importance of good acoustics and strive to do better than the minimum performance requirements of the BCA and may rate their building against the Association of Australian Acoustic Consultants Star Rating System.
Our input can be in relation to design of wall systems, floor systems as well as advice in relation to minimising noise from hydraulic and mechanical services.
Even where there is no regulatory requirement, many commercial developments may engage an acoustic consultant as prospective tenants expect higher levels of acoustic privacy and control.
Buildings are also subject to environmental acoustics and transportation acoustics. Noise from transportation must be considered in order to provide an appropriate level of internal amenity. The mechanical services associated with developments will result in noise to neighbours that must be controlled to not cause a nuisance.
There are also those buildings such as restaurants or auditoriums that require acoustic quality inside the space, for the comfort of the occupants. Advice can be provided in these instances also.
As well as providing advice during the design stages of projects, we can assist during construction by way of site inspections and site airborne and impact testing, measurements of services etc…
Case Study 1
Mirvac’s Burswood Apartments
The Mirvac apartments, located near Burswood Entertainment complex consists of townhouses and apartment towers. Our main involvement has been in undertaking noise level measurements of services within Tower 2, specialist fit-out of a day spa in Tower 2, detailed design and post-construction testing for Towers 4 & 5 and also detailed design for the future Tower 6.
In terms of the design process, advice was provided in relation to required floor and wall constructions, including between apartments as well as between lifts, plantrooms and the like to apartments. Further advice was given in relation to the control of hydraulic services.
Noise measurements of hydraulic and mechanical services were undertaken, as well as measuring the airborne and impact insulation between spaces to confirm that the construction had achieved the design requirements.
Case Study 2
Cape Bouvard’s Cevue Apartments
The project combined high end luxury apartments with short stay accommodation and restaurant areas. As such, the acoustic specification was tailored for each where the developer wanted to provide exceptional acoustics in the luxury apartments. This was achieved by working closely with the builder and identifying any potential issues early in the construction stage. Testing also took place as the project commenced proving that the desired performance was achieved.
For the short stay apartments, the specification was reduced to still exceed the minimum performance requirements of the Building Code, but not to be as high as that for the luxury apartments, since persons would not permanently reside in these apartments.
Advice on controlling the potential restaurant noise was also provided, an assessment of noise from the mechanical services and of particular importance, an assessment of road traffic noise, due to the close proximity of a major road.
Case Study 3
Ellington Jazz Club
The Ellington Jazz Club, located on Beaufort Street is now a successfully run jazz club. We were involved in the early stages working closely with the client to ensure that the noise emissions from the venue would not impact on nearby residences. This was done by upgrading the façade of the existing heritage listed building.
Internal acoustics were also considered in terms of the sound quality as well as the acoustic separation between upstairs and downstairs.