THE DESIGN-STAGE BLIND SPOT

Acoustics is often not considered until a project’s layout and budgets are already fixed. A new guide from Oscar Acoustics is identifying four ways to put acoustics on the agenda earlier.

Nobody understands buildings and the way people use them better than architects. It is reassuring, therefore, that seven in 10 (69%) agree that acoustics are an important or extremely important consideration in the built environment. Yet only one in seven architects (14%) consider acoustics at Stages 0 to 2 of the RIBA Plan of Work and two-thirds (66%) of architects say acoustic design doesn’t become a formal consideration until Stage 4 or later. Too often, by the time acoustic design is broached, the layout is fixed, the materials are chosen and the budget for acoustic solutions is under pressure.

Oscar Acoustics’ new guide, Acoustic Comfort by Design, combines a survey of 250 UK architects with insights from an expert panel. Its position is that acoustic design belongs in the brief – being as fundamental to a building as lighting and ventilation.

According to half of architects (51%) regulation is the biggest single trigger, and respondents said that acoustic consultants are often appointed late, if at all. This means acoustics gets addressed when compliance demands it, often long after the decisions that actually shape acoustic performance have been made.

Standard briefs don’t help: sustainability and physical accessibility have mandatory frameworks that put them on the agenda early, but acoustics has no equivalent. Acoustic specifications are also easy targets for value engineering, but acoustic design is most effective and cost-efficient when considered from the outset.

FOUR WAYS TO BRING IT FORWARD

The guide sets out four steps. The first is to write acoustic performance into the brief. A commitment made there is harder to value-engineer out than a line added later. Sownd Certification helps because it gives a measurable target to design towards from RIBA Stages 1 and 2.

Next, get the layout right. The positioning of quiet zones, meeting rooms and circulation routes plays a key role in managing noise and creating an effective acoustic environment. At concept stage, a sensory design overlay makes acoustic intent visible. Shade the floor plan into acoustically live areas for collaboration, deadened areas for focus and transitional zones in between.

Finally, connect the acoustic specification to the design vision. Seamless finishes that follow the lines and contours of a surface become a natural part of the architecture, complementing the client’s aesthetic and making them far harder to remove or substitute during procurement.

A STANDARD TO SPECIFY AGAINST

Sownd Certification, from Sownd Affects, is the world’s first independent framework recognising spaces with proven acoustic performance as audio-inclusive. There are three tiers to the Sownd Certification framework: Bronze can be specified at Cat A base-build stage orachieved through a Cat B fit-out, while Silver and Gold represent further tenant-side commitments. Oscar Acoustics’ products enable specifiers to achieve it, being independently verified by the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, University of Southampton.

THE COST OF LEAVING IT LATE

Oscar Acoustics’ research found that office employees lose around 26 minutes of productive time a day to noise. That’s nearly three weeks a year. And nearly half (45%) are considering or actively seeking new jobs to escape it. Then there’s the cost of retrofitting a space that doesn’t work. Businesses are already paying for poor acoustics through lost productivity, staff turnover and costly fixes – they just don’t realise it.

MAKE A SOUND DESIGN DECISION

Acoustic comfort has spent too long at the back of the queue, bolted on once the layout is fixed and the budget is spent. From brief to layout, concept sketch and specification, the tools are already in architects’ hands. When applied early, they turn acoustics from a late-stage problem into a design decision like any other, one that creates spaces where everyone can concentrate, communicate and feel comfortable. The profession already knows acoustics matters. Now is the time to make Acoustic Comfort by Design standard practice on every project.