Master F makes the difference at Uffculme School

An Ecophon product story

Edited by the Buildingtalk editorial team Mar 7, 2005

Master F panels installed at Uffculme School have improved the sound quality in the dining area.

No matter how many dinner ladies or members of staff there might be on duty, school meal times are always going to be noisy affairs.

As a consequence the design team responsible for a project at a Devon school called on the assistance of a quite different master.

Bluestone led the project at Uffculme School near Tiverton to construct a new dining hall and kitchen block, using the services of Stone and Partners.

Having had past experience of working with Ecophon on education projects, the Somerset based architects contacted the company to investigate its concerns regarding the likely acoustic performance of the space with its vaulted ceiling.

The answer came in the form of Ecophon Master F.

The Partner in Charge of the project at Stone and Partners, Mr Peter Moat, comments: "This was a design and build project where we were working for the developer, Bluestone".

"While we were not responsible for the initial concepts, we flagged up the fact the design for the school dining hall included a hard wooden floor and bare walls with no sound absorption anywhere to deal with the acoustics".

"With the clattering of knives and forks and children's voices it was going to be an uncomfortably noisy place".

""The underside of the sloping ceiling featured exposed timber trusses and, knowing that Ecophon is very good at dealing with acoustic issues, we proposed the use of the company's products.

The area representative Paul Lake took away the drawings and the technical advisory service came up with calculations for different product solutions and the corresponding reverberation times".

""The installation seems to be working well and Devon County Council has since used Master F and other products from Ecophon for similarly demanding situations.

Master F panels were subsequently installed by the specialist sub-contractor, Sovereign Ceilings.

The extension opened during the last academic year with both the staff and pupils being very happy with the sound quality in the dining area.