Hush Acoustics

Hush Acoustics transformed the acoustic conditions within one of the two halls at a West Yorkshire primary school by providing a solution to reduce reverberation.The company was approached by the head teacher of Sandal Castle (VA) Community Primary School in Wakefield as part of a competitive tendering process after initiating a project to improve the acoustic environment within a school hall used for lunchtime, PE lessons and break out study classes. This large school complex had benefited from various modernisation work and extensions in recent years, but this particular part of the building was in need of upgrading to make it comfortable for teachers and pupils and bring it up to the same standard as the rest of the facilities.Given the presence of hard floors, walls and ceilings, which offer the durability required for a heavily used school hall, reverberation and echoing had become a major problem, and that had been correctly identified by the head teacher as she had been involved in a similar project at her previous school. The Hush Acoustics team worked closely with the head teacher from her initial enquiry right through to the installation team, which included two site visits to meet her and her team in-person before installation commenced to ensure any queries or concerns could be addressed most effectively. This personal approach was key to Hush Acoustics being awarded the contract as it ensured the school received an evidence-based report prior to appointing a contractor. Unlike the other companies invited to tender, Hush invested time in conducting a thorough site survey to provide the school with a detailed report containing accurate calculations and recommendations.Prior to installation, the Hush Acoustics team used its acoustic calculation software to assess the hall’s overall mid-frequency reverberation time (Tmf) at an estimated 6.62s, which is considerably high. The guidance document relating to acoustics in schools, BB93 (Building Bulletin 93) recommends that this should be between 1.50 and 2.00s (Tmf) for a multi-functional hall of this kind, which meant there was scope for significant improvement.Hush recommended a package containing three elements for the hall which is around 15m long x 11m wide and 5m high, and of typical masonry with steel beam construction with vinyl floor. Firstly, the ceiling would be treated through the installation of 20x Hush Absorber 50 Class A panels sized 1200 x 1200mm, directly bonded. A further 10x slightly smaller absorbers sized 1200 x 1000mm would also be directly bonded to the ceiling and 8x in the same size attached to the end walls of the hall – 4x at each end. Following approval of the proposal and costs, the school gave Hush the green light for the upgrade. The team then scheduled installation of the absorber panels over the summer holiday period, ready for the school opening again in the new school year. The improvements were instantly noticeable. The Hush Absorber 50 panels had been calculated to reduce the mid-frequency reverberation time (Tmf) from 6.62s to 1.5s, which meant speech intelligibility within the school hall had been transformed to make it a far more comfortable space to use for teachers, staff and pupils.As this project demonstrates, the Hush Acoustics team approaches every project of this kind with a tailored approach based on a comprehensive assessment of the buildings affected by reverberation. Site visits enables the team to accurately assess the issues faced and the context, which is important in achieving a solution that is most appropriate and cost-effective.

The acoustic environment inside a trio of modern city centre offices located in Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds had become an issue for the occupying businesses.Despite the three open-plan offices being created to a high specification, the experience for many of those working in them was less than satisfactory as a result of an extremely common, but often overlooked acoustic issue affecting spaces of this kind – reverberation. This is the problem of soundwaves generated through everyday activities, such as speaking and music playing, reflecting off hard surfaces back into the room and making it echoey and unfeasibly noisy. The landlord and operator of all three of these offices had created them to a contemporary style, including exposed soffits and services to give the spaces a stylish, industrial feel. However, this design, coupled with hard surfaces such as wooden floors, large areas of glazing and extensive desk spaces, meant that the acoustic conditions were poor when the offices were fully occupied because there was so little scope for soundwaves to be absorbed.As many of the staff working in these spaces are constantly speaking with customers on the phone, the level of background noise had become uncomfortable and a cause for concern. Hence, the landlord asked their fit-out contractor to address the situation who then contacted Hush Acoustics to investigate.Following an initial assessment of each office using photos supplied, the Hush team conducted site visits to ensure accurate acoustic calculations could be obtained in order to recommend the most appropriate solution. Prior to the work commencing, it was estimated that the reverberation time (RT60) within the offices was in the region of between 4s and 5s, well above the acceptable target level in the region of 1s to 2.5s.The benefits of improving the acoustic conditions in open plan offices are well documented and increasingly being recognised by property owners, landlords and agents. For businesses occupying offices where reverberation is minimised, research has shown that they benefit as a result of employees who are more satisfied overall, more productive and less prone to making errors during daily work. But, more importantly, their well-being is generally improved, partly due to their levels of stress hormones being lower.Hush Acoustics, working in conjunction with the fit-out contractor, recommended a solution which involved installing Class A acoustic rafts suspended from the ceilings in all three offices. Plans were drawn up by the contractor for the positioning of the acoustic rafts within each office according to the location of ventilation systems, other building services and available fixing points. Class A acoustic panels offer the highest possible levels of sound absorption with between 90% and 100% of sound absorbed, hence why they can make an instant impact in any space affected by high levels of background noise. Whilst acoustic panels can be mounted on walls and ceilings or suspended from ceilings as acoustic baffles, in these three office projects the most effective approach was to suspend them as acoustic rafts because it would maximise the area overhead to absorb soundwaves.Hush Acoustics manufactured a total of 91 acoustic rafts, all of which were sized 2400 x 1200 x 40mm and designed to be suspended from the soffits using raft fixing wires. At the Leeds and Birmingham offices 29 acoustic rafts were fitted, with 33 installed at the Manchester office.The sound absorber panels are manufactured by Hush Acoustics using a specially formulated 50mm thick acoustic foam which is wrapped and finished with interior fabric that is applied to the face, edges and back return. This means the appearance of the panels can be specified to coordinate with the interior décor or a company’s branding, and in the case of this client the decision was to choose the colour Denny.Since installing the acoustic rafts, the client has reported far higher levels of satisfaction with the office space amongst those using it. Post-installation testing has shown that the reverberation time has been reduced to between 1s and 1.5s in each location, instantly transforming the working environment and boosting productivity.

Hush Acoustics provided an acoustic control solution for the main exhibit at the SS Great Britain visitor attraction called ‘Brunel’s Mind’, in which visitors enter inside the head of Isambard Kingdom Brunel to see the world through his eyes.Working with Electrosonic, the technology experts ho were tasked with supplying and fitting most of the audio-visual equipment for the project, Hush Acoustics ensured any concerns around the reverberation times in this area could be effectively addressed. The solution came with Hush Wall Covering, a highly versatile product which is formed of unique non-woven high-density polyester to target mid-range frequency sound i.e. speech etc. Its used ensured that the audio presentation within this visitor feature would sound as it should.The Hush Wall Covering product used at the SS Great Britain is just 10mm thick so it utilises little space, which was perfect for the room. The product was developed as a direct result of extensive consultation with influential members of the education sector.Chris Hurst from Electrosonic was very pleased with the results of the wall covering and for our quick turnaround time, saying the product does “exactly what it says on the tin”.

BackgroundThe owner and operator of a luxury retirement village in Warwickshire approached Hush Acoustics to improve the acoustic comfort in its main social area after feedback from residents raised concerns about excessive background noise.Lime Tree Village at Dunchurch features a superbly equipped bar and sun room as part of its extensive range of facilities, where residents can relax and socialise. Despite it being a relatively new development, the managers of the complex were receiving feedback from residents that the quality and useability of these rooms was being seriously affected by excessive background noise and sound echoing.Tackling the issue Keen to resolve the situation, the site’s managers approached Hush Acoustics for assistance. Step one was for Hush to visit the site and undertake an extensive survey of Lime Tree Village’s affected spaces – the sun room and the adjoining bar. The acoustic survey carried out by Hush at Lime Tree Village quickly revealed the cause of the background noise issue – common types of reflective, hard surfaces such as plastered walls and wooden furniture were indeed responsible for reverberating sound back into the room. And it was immediately evident that users of the spaces were having to do what most people do in rooms affected in this way – increase their level of speech to try and be heard, which means the issue spirals as everyone attempts to speak over the growing background noise.The solutionThe reverberation solution provided by Hush centres on its Hush Absorber 50 sound absorber panels, which are designed to be strategically mounted on walls or ceilings inside rooms affected by excess background noise. The absorber panels are Class A for the highest sound absorption performance, formed of a 50mm thick acoustic foam which is hand finished in a high quality fabric applied on the face, edges and back.After the site visit, the Hush team were able to calculate how many panels were needed to control the issue and where they would be mounted. A report was prepared for the retirement village managers with a quotation for the supply and installation of the panels recommended and Hush was commissioned to deliver the solution in November 2022. Installation of the Hush Absorber panels was completed in just one day which meant very minimal disruption to the facilities and the improvements were noticed immediately.Client feedbackA representative from Lime Tree Village said:“We always aim to create the best quality environment for our residents, so we are delighted that Hush Acoustics has been able to respond quickly to deliver an effective solution for our sun room and bar. From the initial enquiry to their recommendations and installation service, the process has been professionally managed throughout, and our staff and residents are delighted with the results.”