Improving acoustic clarity in a specialist healthcare environment
At the university’s new teaching block and pavilion, flexible space is a key criteria. Working with Evans Vettori Architects and contractor, GF Tomlinson, Style was appointed to deliver flexible room configurations that were practical and easy to operate. Across two separate buildings, a combination of DORMA Moveo ComfortDrive and DORMA Variflex was agreed.
Evans Vettori Architects
GF Tomlinson
At the university’s new teaching block and pavilion, flexible space is a key criteria. Working with Evans Vettori Architects and contractor, GF Tomlinson, Style was appointed to deliver flexible room configurations that were practical and easy to operate. Across two separate buildings, a combination of DORMA Moveo ComfortDrive and DORMA Variflex was agreed.
In the teaching block, the fully automatic Moveo ComfortDrive enabled lecturers to divide the teaching space, or open it up into one large classroom, with the simple push of a button. By implementing a fully automatic solution was important for time saving and efficiency as it removed the need for facilities staff to be called in each time a wall needed opening or closing. Instead, lecturers could just push a button to quickly modify the space depending on the requirements of their next class.
In the pavilion, where an automated system was less of a priority, DORMA Variflex was chosen. This is an excellent partitioning wall system which is ideal for a busy student environment because the panels are manufactured separate to the frame. This means they can be changed with ease, and at less cost, if they are damaged or the room design alters.
“This installation at Nottingham Trent University was practical, functional, stylish and essential to how the room space is used on a daily basis,” said Mike Fine, Style’s director for the Midlands.”
“With an acoustic rating of 55dB Rw, concurrent lectures can be conducted in privacy either side of a closed wall, and we installed a magnetic whiteboard finish to enable lecturers and students to write on the moveable walls during classes.”
Talk to us about your acoustic goals — we’ll help you design a solution that sounds as good as it looks.
2026 © Style Group
HBN 00-09 sets out these surface characteristics because unsealed joints are a recognised place for moisture and micro-organisms to collect. A genuinely joint-free edge is designed to address that specific detail.
This is a surface and edge specification, not a clinical claim. Zero-joint technology has not been evaluated or certified by NHS England, and does not claim to reduce infection rates.
Food-service and guest-facing areas are typically inspected under hygiene and housekeeping standards that look closely at surfaces and joints. A seamless, moisture-resistant edge is designed with exactly that kind of scrutiny in mind.
Every one of these sectors shares the same underlying surface problem: a bonded-strip edge is a seam, and a seam is a place where dirt, moisture or wear can concentrate in a way a continuous surface can't. Zero-joint technology addresses that one structural detail across offices, schools, healthcare and hospitality settings alike — one construction detail, one shared weak point removed, four sectors that each care about it for their own reasons.
Fill in the form below and we’ll get back to you within one working day.
Fill in the form below and we’ll get back to you within one working day.
Fill in the form below and we'll get back to you as quickly as we can.
