Improving acoustic clarity in a specialist healthcare environment
As well as its traditional religious services and gatherings, the synagogue also acts as an important community centre for the local Jewish people, catering for a variety of meetings, talks and events each week.
Bensham Synagogue in Gateshead opened its doors to the local community in 2020.
As well as its traditional religious services and gatherings, the synagogue also acts as an important community centre for the local Jewish people, catering for a variety of meetings, talks and events each week.
Working with GW Architects and contractor, Meldrum, Style was specified to install 2 Dorma Huppe Variflex semi-automatic moveable walls to enable the room configuration to be changed with ease.
As well as offering extensive flexibility, the operable walls provide a 52dB acoustic rating which means concurrent events can take place undisturbed when they are in place.
An integrated pass door offers simple access between rooms, and Style installed a 90 degree junction panel enabling the walls to form a natural corner, with acoustic seals achieving the perfect pressure thanks to the semi-automatic operation.
“Installing a moveable wall in a building such as Bensham Synagogue enables the local community to make the best use of its space for a variety of religious and community events,”
said Andy Gibson, Style’s director for the north.
“The advantage of the Variflex system is that it offers supreme acoustic ratings, which means you can host a noisy event one side and a more peaceful one the other, and if a panel is scuffed or damaged it can be easily replaced which is ideal in busy public areas.
“The final installation looked fabulous in its chic beige finish, and it will become a really important feature of the synagogue and how it’s used.”
Style is the exclusive UK partner to Dorma Huppe, Skyfold and SWG offering an extensive range of moveable wall solutions for all requirements and budgets.
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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