Product category:
Ceilings
News Release from: OWA UK | Subject: Noise reverberation
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 01 February 2008
OWA has cure for medical school
Acoustic ceilings expert OWA cure high levels of noise reverberation that plagued group study area at the University of Leeds Health Science Library.
Medical students at the University of Leeds have been handed a much-needed tonic by OWA UK Limited The acoustic ceilings expert came up with the cure to the high levels of noise reverberation that plagued the group study area at the university's Health Science Library
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 9 Jul 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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But it wasn't just a case of picking a product off the shelf.
The design of the building, a double-height atrium with a barrel-vaulted roof and half-mezzanine floor, needed something special.
OWA demonstrated its market-beating technical skills and client support by devising a solution of acoustic wall absorbers, some printed with images of medical dignitaries.
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"I was a little apprehensive about OWA being a miracle solution," says project architect Jenni Clay of Leeds-based Work Architecture.
"But hearing is believing".
Good acoustics are increasingly important in the interior refurbishment and fit-out sector.
But there's far more to good acoustic solutions than just 'NRC' values.
Design, versatility and reliability are crucial.
The Leeds University project is a vivid demonstration of what OWA can achieve.
The medical school is attached to one of Europe's largest teaching hospitals.
It was founded in 1831 and enlarged with the addition of the Leeds general Infirmary library in 1865.
The library group study area was being redeveloped but staff were aware that poor acoustics in the room would be a problem when a refurbished area attracted increased usage.
"Noise was reverberating around the space".
"But we were restricted on what we could install due to constraints within the atrium".
"The barrel roof prevented the installation of a suspended ceiling or baffles, and the walls have high-level windows and low-level glass-fronted displays of old medical equipment, therefore restricting the surface area available to us," says Jenni Clay.
Previously, Jenni Clay had attended an OWA CPD presentation.
Remembering its capability of printing artwork onto acoustic panels, she now went back to the company for the solution.
Its products have been tried and tested across the Continent and in dozens of countries worldwide.
Its mainstay, OWAcoustic, is one of the most popular high performance ceiling materials in Europe.
OWA's area manager Andrew Stewart visited the library.
He passed the details to the company's acoustician Abidin Uygin, who devised the specifications for the OWAcoustic wall absorbers solution in two bespoke sizes and designs, in the same colour as the wall.
For the ground level, the dimensions are 1247 x 1247mm - more than double the standard OWAcoustic panel size.
Metal framed and made of mineral wool covered with fleece for printing, the eight absorbers are printed with images of Deans of the medical school and other dignitaries.
For the higher level, the absorbers are 1247 x 692mm.
They are surfaced with micro-perforated metal to achieve an optimum reverberation time.
They have been left blank and blend-in well between the windows.
OWAcoustic represents the new generation of mineral wool acoustic ceiling and wall products.
They contain more than 50% mineral wool; others can have as little as 15%, and the difference is audible.
The white mineral wool structure is made from natural and recycled materials, and combines fire resistance with the strength and handling characteristics of glass wool.
It's environmentally friendly, bio-soluble and non-hazardous.
The impact of OWAcoustic at the Health Services Library has been immense".
""The outcome is a vast improvement, probably reducing reverberation by around half," says Jenni Clay.
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