Hadley Community Learning Centre

Our role in the project

Following rejection of the campus style design, the final ring-shaped design of the Leaning Community was developed. The developed design incorporated  all levels of learning, from pre-school through to secondary school and adult education in one building, with wings extending out from the central rotunda. Working closely with Interserve we carried out site noise surveys, the results of which informed the design concept and advised on all acoustic matters during the detailed design stage.

Specific considerations

• Acoustics of large communal area
• Noise and reverberation effects of exposed concrete slabs
• Noise from an adjacent railway line

Acoustic features of this project

The acoustics of the large communal areas needed careful consideration. So too did the naturally ventilated classrooms which used passive cooling from exposed concrete slabs and heightened the noise intrusion from the adjacent railway.

In order for the naturally ventilated solution for the school to be used, the:

• Potential echo and reverberation from the concrete slabs had to be resolved;
• Use of mechanical ventilation had to be avoided wherever possible;
• Noise intrusion from the railway next to the site had to be minimised

Our solution was to adopt an approach which incorporated:

• Combining acoustic lighting rafts which was, at that time, a fairly new idea;
• Installing an acoustic noise barrier alongside the railway