Can You Hear Me? Optimizing Learning through Sustainable Acoustic Design

Understanding acoustic design, surface materials and services will provide optimal educational environments.
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Sponsored by Ceilings Plus, Meyer Sound Laboratories, Inc. and Serious Materials
Celeste Allen Novak, AIA, LEED AP

Wood veneers that are certified by the Forest Stewardship can be laminated to aluminum cores to create a more sustainable panel configuration. FSC certifies that products do not come from illegal logging and are produced by companies that meet strict environmental and social welfare guidelines.4 The USGBC LEED® for Schools, Materials and Resources Credit: 7 Certified Wood (FSC) can be applied to only wood certified by FSC, giving this ceiling choice an added advantage for designers. Wood and metal perforated panels can contribute to many LEED® credits - commissioning, local and regional materials, and recycled content.5

Additional environmental benefits include the durability of these products; unlike mineral fiber acoustical panels, metal and wood perforated panels are easy to clean, resist damage, and can even be repainted during remodeling without loss of noise reduction value. Factory applied paint finishes release zero VOCs and provide color consistency throughout the entire project. Manufacturers use pre-painted coil before fabricating that gives greater color consistency and a tough more durable finish. Since aluminum is corrosion and humidity resistant, panels can be used above swimming pools, in laboratories and outdoors.

The ceilings and soffits in the Kelley Engineering Center were designed for optimal acoustic performance, and used FSC-certified wood veneers to add natural beauty to the space. This building received a LEED Gold rating.

Photo courtesy of Ceilings Plus
Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon
Architect: Yost Grube Hall Architecture

Common sense panel mechanisms and designs

Poor ceiling configurations, tight ceiling cavities, the location of lighting and HVAC ductwork - all of these make the renovation or maintenance of existing buildings difficult. New ceiling panels are designed to swing down from the ceiling plane to expose the systems above for mechanical repairs or replacements. The ceiling panels have torsion springs that hold the panels tightly in place yet allow easy removal for access anywhere above the ceiling.

Alternatively, new panel systems allow metal and wood panels to be installed in standard ceiling grids, an option that is especially suitable for budget conscious projects or when remodeling a space with an existing ceiling grid. Panels can be installed with an exposed tee, a tegular reveal, or a narrow reveal for a concealed tee appearance.

Either way, ventilation louvers, lighting fixtures, sprinkler heads, speakers, and other building services should be integrated into the design of the ceiling system to eliminate clutter.

Designing outside of the box - new design vocabularies

The ceiling plane is typically the most visible surface area in a school room, providing a clean slate where designers can make a statement. While Cartesian grids of square and rectangular ceiling panels may have sufficed in another age, they are no longer emblematic of today's more nuanced pedagogical thinking. Instead, BIM-driven fabrication allows each panel to be unique and for designers to create installations with multiple layers of pattern. For example, triangular, rhombic, or other polygonal panels can create a basic module. Then, by varying joint spacing, individual panels can be clustered into segments that read at a larger scale. Perforation patterns can be varied to define areas within a space, or used as graphics that can extend across the boundary of individual panels to add additional visual texture. Finally, designs can also incorporate multiple panel colors or finishes, and create visual rhythm by the way lights and other fixtures are interspersed throughout a ceiling.

In schools, educators are challenged to expand the minds of their students, to expose them to new ways of thinking. The student is asked to explore new ideas and integrate information toward new actions. In this context, new materials provide an opportunity for learning. Mass-customizable wood veneer and aluminum ceiling and wall panels pose an opportunity for architects who can choose to inspire students and teachers by exploring and integrating this new acoustical design vocabulary on the ceilings and walls of their school buildings.

 

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Originally published in Schools of the 21st Century
Originally published in January 2010

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