Application:
Part of the Government's
on going initiative 'Building Schools for The
Future' (BSF), this brand new £15 million
landmark building for the Durham area has been
created to provide a focal point for both pupils
and the surrounding community, housing state-of-the-art
science and technology classrooms, nursery, sports
hall, 440 seat auditorium and public cyber café
& library.
Within
the scope of the new BSF initiative demanding
regulations have been enforced to ensure the end
result is the most practical and effective result.
Building Bulletin '93, previously BB87, provides
guidelines required to meet specifications for
acoustic conditions within school environments
– classrooms, music rooms, corridors, assembly
halls, language labs etc.. When spending £15
million of Government money (and considering,
of course, that education is all about communication)
it is important to provide facilities which not
only deliver the best technology and teaching
aids, but also deliver an environment in which
communication is most effective.
Having
specified over 3500m² of Dune and Fine Fissured
Armstrong ceiling panels throughout the building
for passive acoustic control, the design team
required an audio system that would provide active
acoustic control and also integrate with the core
modern design of clean, contemporary lines. Furthermore,
the College's language laboratories needed the
highest levels of intelligibility. i-ceilings
easily met both these criteria, exactly matching
the Armstrong ceiling tiles for an 'invisible'
loudspeaker solution, while the NXT technology
utilised ensured high quality voice reproduction. |