Improving acoustic clarity in a specialist healthcare environment
Housed within a ceiling coffer, it occupies no floor space whatsoever and is completely hidden when not in use. When activated it glides quietly and smoothly into place, providing instant room separation and outstanding acoustic integrity.
Skyfold
Newcastle upon Tyne
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Working directly with the Sage Centre, Style was appointed to install a Skyfold partitioning wall. Skyfold is the innovative vertically rising, fully automatic, acoustic moveable partitioning wall operated by the simple push of a button.
Housed within a ceiling coffer, it occupies no floor space whatsoever and is completely hidden when not in use. When activated it glides quietly and smoothly into place, providing instant room separation and outstanding acoustic integrity.
“Skyfold is a breathtaking addition to any room, and the acoustics are phenomenal,” said Andy Gibson, Style’s director for the North.
“At the Sage, the Skyfold was installed in the Barbour room which is used for rehearsals and conferencing, and the strength of Skyfold’s acoustics underpinned the decision to choose this system to divide the space.
“Because this is a music venue, the original acoustics at the Sage Centre were designed by Arup Consulting, and the Skyfold had to match the quality throughout the rest of the building. For this reason the solution Style installed has an immense 59dB rating, making it virtually soundproofed and this is the first of its kind to be installed in the North East of England.
“In public areas, such as the conferencing suite at the Sage, you often find a lot of people who have never seen Skyfold before and they are amazed at how smooth and effortlessly it lowers into place. It becomes a real showpiece for any building – particularly as most people wouldn’t even notice that a partitioning wall was in the room until it’s activated.”
“Better still, Skyfold comes in a wide range of finishes to complement any room design, the Sage Centre choosing a clean white laminate.”
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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