Improving acoustic clarity in a specialist healthcare environment
Working with Vinci Construction and RHWL Architects, Style was specified to create flexible space in two very distinct parts of the venue. The first requirement was in the dance studio where a very high acoustic performance was required. As a result, Style installed two 4500mm high 49dB (Rw) DORMA Variflex walls face to face with […]
Working with Vinci Construction and RHWL Architects, Style was specified to create flexible space in two very distinct parts of the venue.
The first requirement was in the dance studio where a very high acoustic performance was required. As a result, Style installed two 4500mm high 49dB (Rw) DORMA Variflex walls face to face with only 220mm gap between them.
The second area was a performance studio requiring the flexibility to create different room sizes and scenarios dependent on the function and the amount of people in attendance
Style installed two 49dB (Rw) DORMA Variflex walls in a ‘T-Shape’ design. By doing so the client could set up one large room, two smaller rooms or leave one entire open space. The design was made so that the two walls could also be used as three individual walls. This offered additional adaptability to use half of the bigger wall to create a smaller single room, left or right of the open space.
“This is a stunning building and we were delighted to be appointed to create flexible, modern and very forward-thinking use of the space,” said Andy Gibson, Style’s director for the north.
“As well as meeting the acoustic standards, complementing the interior design and creating configurations to make this a truly innovative building, we also devised a special Variflex partitioning panel in the performance studio to cater for a sloping exterior wall.”
“The dissecting wall in the performance studio was finished in ‘Magnetic Writeable Board Grey’ so that it could be used for marking up/writing on during classes, and the larger wall was finished in a special ‘Westag Getalit’ HPL laminate that was ‘Sun Yellow’ resulting in a solution of real elegance.”
Talk to us about your acoustic goals — we’ll help you design a solution that sounds as good as it looks.
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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.
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