Consultancy

Architectural Acoustics

Architectural acoustics encompasses the fields of building acoustics and room acoustics. Building acoustics focuses on sound transmission through walls, doors and floors. Room acoustics focuses on the behaviour of sound inside a room. For many buildings, such as classrooms, offices, theatres, and concert halls, their acoustic properties are critical to their ability to perform their primary function.

To prevent noise from entering into a room or to understand the degree to which it penetrates, you can evaluate the building’s acoustics. Building acoustics focuses on sound transmission through walls and entrances, such as footfalls from people walking above or vehicles driving below. For these, you need to measure the sound both inside and out, and to correct the difference for reverberation and background noise in the receiving room. With information about the noise, such as frequency content, mitigation can be effectively targeted – such as with insulation and shielding.

In a room, good acoustics require a design that is fit for purpose, such as easy communication and a high degree of intelligibility in office spaces or long reverberation times in concert halls. Issues with acoustics are normally caused by sound being reflected too much, too little or in the wrong direction. To assess this, you can analyze the room’s acoustic properties, such as reverberation time – the length of time that sound echoes for – or its impulse response, which enables the acoustic characteristics of a space to be captured. With a better picture of the sound’s behavior in the room, you can improve it with redesigns or absorptive materials.

Noise & Vibration Control

Noise and Vibration in a building are either caused by the building elements directly, as in the case of mechanical system noise, or allowed to affect the building from outdoors, as in the case of automobile or air traffic noise.

The simple definition of noise is unwanted sound. Even human speech can be noise. Desirable speech includes that between people inside of offices, conference rooms, and training rooms, for example. Unwanted speech comes from others outside of offices, conference rooms, and training rooms—which makes it noise. Noise also can come from an outdoor sources, such as cooling towers and electrical generators, as well as from transportation or industrial sources like nearby airports, roads, rails, or outdoor industrial operations.

Vibration from mechanical equipment propagates through the building structure and then radiates from building elements; it is called structure-borne noise. It consists of structural movement that either disturbs building occupants directly (vibration of floor or table surfaces, for example) or indirectly as airborne noise radiating from a wall, floor, or ceiling. Vibration in buildings is most often caused by machines (i.e., mechanical system fans, pumps, chillers, cooling towers) and electrical system elements (i.e., generators and transformers). Other vibration sources can be human, such as footfall noise on hard floors or moving tables and chairs in a ballroom above an office area. Vibration also can be caused by external sources, such as nearby trains or other heavy equipment outside the building.

Facility & Infrastructure Planning

Facilities & infrastructure planning is the development of a forward-thinking strategy for the management of a single facility or an organization’s complete portfolio of space that supports audio-visual operations. Strategic planning helps our clients focus resources and avoid reactionary, temporary solutions that cost more over time. Such planning establish a long-term investment strategy and identify short-term actions to meet service needs, address critical vulnerabilities, and increase operational efficiency. We work with the design architects to achieve all these by developing actionable recommendations that rely on accurate costs, innovative financing, phased implementation, and scalable solutions.

Technical Systems Planning

Technical System comprises of not just the Audio-Visual system but includes all the necessary sub-systems like electrical, rigging, staging, cable containment, seatings, etc. These sub-system when properly planned will make  your Audio-Visual System a success.

Technical Systems Planning provides a framework to define the scope of the technical effort required to develop, deploy and sustain the audio-visual system, and provides critical quantitative inputs to program planning and system life-cycle cost estimates.  Technical systems planning provides the client with a framework to accomplish these technical activities and reduce technical risks. We work with you and your stakeholders to help select the most appropriate audio-visual platform, define your technology needs, evaluate current technologies and compatibility with future technologies, plan and budget for new technologies, and facilitate seamless system expansions and upgrades. We deliver a custom, comprehensive, long-term Technical Systems Master Plan with a clear, concise strategy, creative solutions, and a roadmap providing ongoing continuity to guide the management process for current and future Technical Systems technology needs.