Acoustic management could promote higher concentration levels in schools and colleges

Better learning could be promoted in Britain’s schools and colleges through acoustic engineering, according to a UK businessman. Peter Timbrell, managing director of Workplace Consultancy Services, said many educational facilities could reap positive rewards by making a few simple changes to their buildings. Educational environments are affected by both interior and exterior noise, intensified by hard wall, ceiling and floor materials used in their construction in the majority of cases, leading to echoing and high reverberation. Timbrell said: “Research tells us it can take five times as long as the interruption itself to return to the task in hand. When students can’t hear their teachers properly, they either strain to listen or allow their concentration to wander. As a result, the detrimental impact of noise on learning over a period of time can lead to education development difficulties for young people.” Difficulty acquiring speech recognition, decreased reading ability and comprehension, reduce motivation and poor long-term memory are just some of the problems that could be heightened through poor acoustics. “It can lead to frustration and anger,” Timbrell added. “Noise can also affect the teachers themselves as working in noisy classrooms can lead to repeating instructions which in turn leads to voice fatigue, stress, de-motivation and potential burn out. “I hear a lot of people talking about the environment, sustainability and sustainable buildings. What you will rarely hear is about environments we are creating for humans to inhabit. We specialise in adjusting environments to make them as conducive as possible to maximise their potential. After all, if you keep people comfortable in the right environment, their performance will improve and this is incredibly important in schools and colleges.” Derby-based Workplace Consultancy’s division, Elite Commercial Interiors, specialises in interior design, commercial furniture, complete office renovation, and a key element of this is acoustic engineering. Acoustic engineering includes three elements: • Sound absorption using filler in walls or dense panels; • Sound blocking via screens which aren’t glass or reflective, and, • Sound masking with speakers from the ceiling. Timbrell said the speakers can be configured to form specific shaped zones within a working environment. He added: “By shaping sound inside a building, staff disruption is minimised, particularly in educational environments noise can have an incredibly negative impact on staff and students.” He also went to say, “Generally, classrooms wouldn’t benefit from sound masking because it would further decrease the ability for students to hear their teachers. However, it is effective in areas that require noise control and speech privacy such as administrative and counselling offices, staff rooms, libraries, computer and health centres, research laboratories, student unions and residential halls.” - ENDS - Editor’s note:- Workplace Consultancy Services provides total business solutions that optimise interior environments and work spaces. The aim is to maximise productive output through services that include: • Consultancy services • Acoustics (sound shaping) • Interior design • Commercial furniture • Interior refurbishment It offers clients bespoke services, tailored to meet individual requirements and budgets. It has established an excellent reputation for delivering effective business solutions, coupled with the supply of exceptional quality furniture and fully project managed refurbishment programmes.

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