Beansheaf Community Centre, situated in Calcot, Berkshire, is a busy facility used by many local groups for their various meeting and activities.
However, one of their facilities, The Beansheaf Room, was suffering from poor acoustics making activities within difficult and uncomfortable to use for some of it’s users. Pam Kirkpatrick, Clerk at the council, made the decision to research possible solutions and contacted sound absorption experts, Sound Reduction Systems Ltd (SRS) to see if they could help. SRS were able to use the room dimensions and photographs Pam sent over to model the room, specify exactly how much treatment was required and prepare a report and indicative costs for the council to consider.
Following this, a free, no obligation site visit was arranged so that a member of the SRS technical team could measure up the room in detail and design a layout for the panels. They were also able to drop off samples and answer any questions whilst on site. Following the visit, Alex Docherty from SRS said:
“From the moment I entered the room it was clear there was a significant reverberation issue. A representative from Parkinson’s UK group was finishing a meeting and it was extremely difficult to hear what was being said, even with just a few of us in the room. She commented that it was making her job, working on speech clarity and volume quite difficult.”
SRS specified 22.32sqm of Class A rated Sonata Aurio absorbers bonded to the ceiling to solve the problem and sent their fitter to site within 2 weeks from order to install the panels within a day. After the treatment, Pam from the council stated:
I think that the difference in the hall is unbelievable! We have had two comments, both from people who use hearing aids, to say how much improved it is.
The other things of note for me, is that the panels look good. The effort you made in designing the layout works really well and they do not feel at all intrusive (which is something that I was worried about).
A representative from Parkinsons UK Group made the following comments after using the newly treated room:
‘The acoustic Sonata panels have made a real difference for both me running the group and also for the group members. For those who use hearing aids, it was a real challenge to ’tune’ in to what was being said due to the significant echo before the tiles were installed, whereas since their installation the sound quality in the room is much better.
Since we are working on volume and speech clarity, it is really important that members of the group are able to hear themselves properly in order to begin to recalibrate speaking volume. This was a challenge with the presence of echo before the installation whereas, now that the sound quality is much improved, we can better judge speaking volume.
So we are very happy with the installation of the tiles and the positive impact they have had. Thank you also for arranging them to be fitted so quickly!’
If you have a noise issue in your village / community hall, scout hut, school hall, or in any large, open area, please get in touch to see how SRS can help with soundproofing and sound absorption. You can fill in our simple 3 Step Estimator form by clicking here. The 3 Step Estimator works within your mobile device, so you can upload the pictures and information directly from site if required. Alternatively, you can just email or whatsapp us with the room dimensions and a few pictures of the ceiling and walls in the room.
Useful Links: https://www.holybrook-pc.gov.uk/Beansheaf_Community_Centre_26022.aspx
