Cahill Design Consultants (CDC) was engaged by Faithful and Gould on behalf of their Client, Cambridgeshire County Council, to undertake a design review of this large scale new build development located in Cambourne, Cambridgeshire. The building comprised learning and teaching spaces including a suite of music rooms, drama and dance spaces, a main hall, in addition to a number of general teaching spaces.
CDC was requested to undertake visual Inspections, design review of construction drawings, acoustic testing and offer remedial advice to the completed building based upon feedback from stakeholders that the College was not performing acoustically as expected. CDC visited the site on a number of occasions, undertaking a number of tests including sound insulation performance of walls and floors, reverberation time measurements, ambient noise levels with spaces and impact sound tests to determine likely areas of acoustic weakness.
Working very closely with key stakeholders including contractors, consultants, architects, projects managers, Cambridgeshire County Council and the school management team, advice was offered for remedial works to Improve the overall performance of acoustically weak elements. All advice given was practical and as cost effective as possible, given the constraints of working in an operational educational facility.
A programme of works was carried out by the Contractor, as per CDC recommendations, and a number of acoustic tests and visual inspections were undertaken to check compliance. A professional working relationship with all involved in the project was key to a successful outcome and achieving the aspirations of the Client and wider group of stakeholders.
