Speech intelligibility and the difficulties with material choice.
Speech intelligibility is of high importance in sports halls, particularly when teaching children. As is now stated in the BB93 ‘Acoustics in Schools’ legal requirements, reverberation times need to be controlled to support this. The other problem is that these halls are often used for music, plays and speaking events which also require more reverberation control than a bare hall will typically offer.
The difficulty here is finding a material with the durability to withstand impact from balls. Traditional fibrous absorbers will be damaged easily. The system pictured below uses Quietstone Light mounted on timber battens with a mineral fibre backing. This gives Class A absorption with high impact resistance and easy installation at a very competitive price.
Speech intelligibility and the difficulties with material choice.
An example of a class A sound absorption system with minimal installation fuss, high impact resistance and a very competitive price:
Materials
Quietstone Light, 25mm - high impact resistance, long life span
rockwool 80kg/m², 50mm - extra, cheap absorption to bring it to class A
timber battens - cheap, easily worked
gripfill - strong, cheap
paint - just to finish batten edges. Same colour as panels
headless brad nails - not visible, holds panels while adhesive sets
Click here to view a pdf installation guide >