• 104 Natural Wool Serge (WS040) Drapes (6m x 2.45m), 100% fullness.
The building was constructed recently, and it quickly became apparent that reverberation inside the building far exceeded acceptable limits. The total volume of the space is 55,000m3, and an independent engineering evaluation estimation suggested that around 4,500m2 of highly absorbent material would be necessary to bring the reverberation time down to acceptable values. The materials and configuration had to be practical for the use of the facilities – they had to be able to withstand impacts from footballs. They had to comply with fire safety regulations applicable to public buildings. Although the aesthetics of the solutions were secondary in this case, the solution still had to be easy on the eye. A practical installation method was also needed, as the building was already in use. The roughly 1,200m2 of Coloured Wool Serge drapes were installed by two people over a week in vertical strips across the ceiling. This significantly reduced the RT times, and combined with roughly 1300m2 of acoustic panels on walls; the measured improvements were sufficient despite a vastly smaller area coverage than initially suggested.
