Consultancy
Sound plays an important role in the perception of our environment. We use our ears not only for orientation, recognition and communication, but also for the pleasure of listening to music or even to silence. The way a building sounds is an important part of our perception of space. The design of the built environment therefore also belongs to the fields of acoustics and vibration.
Level Acoustics & Vibration offers acoustic consultancy in a all types of building designs where acoustic issues need special attention, like room acoustics, sound insulation or vibration control. In cooperation with the client, user and architect we design the acoustic environment to match expectations and to inspire, not only from an acoustical point of view, but also from an architectural point of view. Also, we offer our support in the development of new acoustic products and building concepts using advanced prediction and measurement tools.
An overview of the different topics and activities that we cover in our consultancy work and the working fields we have experience with, is given below. The topics that are covered are:
Building Acoustics
Acoustic sensitive spaces must be protected from noise coming from adjacent spaces or from outside. For example office workers must be able to work concentrated and a certain level of privacy towards surrounding offices is desired. Residents of dwellings should not be hindered by noise. The environment of music buildings has to be protected from loud music coming from inside halls or studios, while listeners don’t want to be disturbed by outside noise from traffic. Building acoustics thus also concerns urban acoustics.
As consultant in design teams or when advising on solutions for new and existing buildings, Level Acoustics & Vibration proposes what constructions, build-ups and connections should be used to achieve the necessary sound insulation. Details are proposed or checked on the correct acoustic performance. New solutions are developed where prediction models assist in making design decisions. Proposals from the design team are investigated based on state of the art knowledge.
Room Acoustics
Functional spaces have to meet visual as well as acoustical expectations, whether it concerns a working space, a concert hall or a living room. Performance spaces like concert halls and theaters ask for special care concerning the acoustics. Room shape, room dimensions and room finish are important room acoustical design criteria.
Level Acoustics & Vibration consults on room acoustics in various projects. Projects include both new designs as well existing buildings. Existing spaces can have acoustical deficiencies like too much or too few reverberation or poor speech intelligibility. When considering acoustical solutions for these deficiencies, or when designing new spaces, computational prediction models or scale models assist in making design decisions and developing solutions for materials. We propose materials to use and where to apply them to control reverberation, reflections or provide adequate speech intelligibility. Proposals from the design team are investigated based on state of the art knowledge.
Vibration
External sources like (air) traffic, railroads and technical equipment can cause problems with vibrations or rattle inside buildings. Equipment like HVAC systems inside the building may cause hindrance when not isolated properly from vibrations. Vibrations can be disturbing for individuals and for sensitive (laboratory) equipment or art pieces. Low frequency noise often behaves more like vibrations than high frequency sound and also belongs to the field of vibration.
Level Acoustics & Vibration consults on what provisions can be taken to avoid or reduce disturbance caused by vibration sources. Specific anti-vibration solutions are proposed based on advanced predictions and/or measurements. Level Acoustics & Vibration has the adequate equipment to measure low frequency noise and vibrations inside buildings, on roads or on location, for example in ships.
Activities
Consultancy takes place in the form of taking part in projects as consultant and acoustic designer, by product development and (co-)writing documentation, and with the aid of measurements in the laboratory, in the field and with prediction models.
Projects
The type of buildings and environments that we work on can be divided in the following working fields: cinemas, concert halls, office buildings, popular music halls, public buildings, rehearsal rooms, residential buildings, schools and auditoria, recording studios, theatres, urban environment and places of worship.
To take a look at a selection of the projects that we have participated in, visit our Projects page.
Header image: Photograph by marco cappelletti, Courtesy of O.M.A. and F.I.
