Improving acoustic clarity in a specialist healthcare environment
St Philip’s Church Centre in Dorridge, Birmingham is a new, modern church with a large open plan, flexible space for regular worship.
With community in mind, the entire area has been designed for many more activities. Seating 350 people with a full sound and AV system makes this space ideal for large public gatherings, while the design also allows the space to be used more freely for small groups or classes.
St Philip’s Church Centre in Dorridge, Birmingham is a new, modern church with a large open plan, flexible space for regular worship.
With community in mind, the entire area has been designed for many more activities. Seating 350 people with a full sound and AV system makes this space ideal for large public gatherings, while the design also allows the space to be used more freely for small groups or classes.
To create that flexible space, Style worked with Kier Construction and architects, Robothams, to install a Dorma Huppe Variflex solid moveable wall with the inclusion of 2 Dorma Huppe Variflex glass panels and vision panels within the double door.
With an impressive 52db acoustic rating, when the moveable wall is in place events can be hosted either side without disturbance. This is ideal for the church which may have live music playing on one side while a prayer group is on the other.
The inclusion of the glass panels and glass inset on the double doors also means light can come through from one room to another, and this also enables visitors to check if there are activities taking place in the segregated room.
The double pass door means the moveable wall can be left in situ for extended periods, however thanks to its ease of manoeuvre, the Variflex can be opened up effortlessly when the entire space is required.
“This is an ideal solution for St Philip’s Church,” said Steve Williams, sales director for Style Midlands.
“The moveable wall is so light and smooth to operate it can be opened and closed very easily, and its high acoustic rating means that different events can take place throughout the day without sound seeping through to the other side.”
Style is the UK’s multi-award-winning market leading moveable wall specialist, and the exclusive UK partner to Dorma Huppe, Skyfold and SWG.
It offers a complete range of moveable, folding and partitioning walls for all requirements and budgets across multiple market sectors.
For more case studies in the religious sector visit our Case Studies page
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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