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 | | BRITISH GYPSUM CEILINGS STAND UP TO THE UNION | | | British Gypsum | | 23/06/2008 | | | High performance acoustic ceiling boards from British Gypsum are helping to maintain a calm environment in various areas adjoining the Student Union facilities at Winchester University’s new £9.5 million University Centre.
The flagship University Centre, designed by Winchester-based Design Engine Architects, provides a gateway to the campus and hosts a range of staff and student facilities, including a learning café, bookshop and boardroom, as well as a new Student Union complete with cinema and 1200 capacity concert venue. It is the first of a number of planned developments at the site, which was granted University status in 2005.
With such a diverse range of activities to cater for, acoustic performance was key to the Centre’s success. British Gypsum worked closely with the architects and acoustic consultants, The English Cogger Partnership, to develop a range of ceiling specifications that would meet demanding reverberation and sound insulation criteria, whilst satisfying the aesthetic requirements of the technically complex interior design.
The sloping panel design of the food hall ceiling presented a particular challenge, as the solution required perforated acoustic boards to be seamlessly jointed in large triangular panels. British Gypsum’s Rigitone 15/30 boards were chosen, as their regular pattern of 15mm perforations at 30mm centres provided high levels of sound absorption in accordance with BB93 requirements, whilst allowing invisible jointing to meet design requirements.
Interiors specialists, Pan Interiors, treated the Rigitone panels using the Rigitone Vario 60 jointing system to achieve an uninterrupted pattern across board joints and to create the angled appearance at cut board edges.
In the University reception and boardroom the minimalist interiors and hard wall and floor surfaces were complemented by ceilings of British Gypsum Gyptone LINE 4 boards. The regular elongated line pattern of these boards provided an eye-catching feature to the areas and worked with furniture and tapestry artwork to meet sound attenuation and reverberation requirements.
A major benefit of the British Gypsum plasterboard-based, perforated ceiling boards is their ability to be redecorated in the future to maintain appearance, without impacting on acoustic performance. Their very high recycled content and full waste recyclability are an important environmental plus, and contributed to sustainability targets for Main Contractor, Osborne.
The eye-catching interior and distinctive external design of the four-storey University Centre, which has been constructed on a sharply sloping site, have already led to its success as a regional winner in the 2008 RIBA awards. It will now go forward to the national RIBA Awards later this year. | |
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