Photo: Brunei Shell Logo
Soundzipper Consultants: Adrian Lo | Julian Martinez | Cindy Lin
Client: Brunei Shell Petroleum
Location: Seria, Brunei
The Challenge
Brunei Shell Petroleum is the Sultanate’s largest oil and gas company with around 4,000 employees and over 20,000 contractors. Shell is an international energy company that aims to meet the world’s growing need for more energy solutions in ways that are economically, environmentally and socially responsible.
Our acoustic consultants were employed by this client to design acoustic solutions for two issues related to the Atrium, a large, high-ceiling meeting space in the company’s headquarters.
- To reduce the Reverberation Time (RT) in the Atrium in order to improve sound clarity in the room and to perform a post-installation Reverberation Time test to verify the results.
- To analyse and advise on the sound insulation performance (STC) of the partition walls on the second floor directly facing the Atrium.
The Analysis
We performed an on site acoustic test according to ISO 3382 to determine the existing reverberation time of the space. For the second floor rooms, the STC (Sound Transmission Class) of the walls was estimated at STC 35-43 based on design drawings. This was not enough to ensure that sound from the Atrium would not be heard.
The Design
In order to bring the reverberation time of the hall into ideal range, we recommended the installation of 315 square metres of 50mm fabric-wrapped acoustical panels on the side, front and back walls of the Atrium. The treatment shaved off 1.75 seconds from the reverberation time and brought back excellent speech clarity.
For the second floor rooms, we suggested the implementation of an additional wall with Tecsound acoustic damping membrane to improve the STC rating of the wall to STC 52.
Determination of the existing reverberation time of the space the Atrium, high-ceiling
