Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Ceiling Panels Absorb and Block Noise

  • 01/01/16
Ceiling Panels Absorb and Block Noise

Rendering of a small “collaboration hub” at the Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences.

The Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences in Lancaster, PA, is relocating to a new campus by converting a former office building into the school’s administrative building and a former manufacturing facility into a 200,000-square-foot state-of-the-art learning environment. One of the key interior design considerations in both buildings is the reduction of noise intruding into one space from an adjacent space.

According to Deborah Knast and Jill Sirota of Stantec Architects & Engineering, Philadelphia, PA, the college is dedicated to improving the acoustic environment of the new facilities. “The college is currently housed in a number of older buildings at another location,” states Knast, “and many of the spaces are not acoustically acceptable. As a result, the college is extremely sensitive to acoustics and does not want to replicate any of the existing conditions.”

To meet the acoustic as well as aesthetic goals of the new buildings, the design team selected Ultima High CAC ceiling panels from Armstrong. The panels feature new Total Acoustics™ performance, which is the ability to provide both sound absorbing and sound blocking in the same panel.

To deliver that performance, the panels have a Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC) of 0.60, meaning they absorb 60 percent of the sound that strikes them, and a very high Ceiling Attenuation Class (CAC) of 40, meaning they perform extremely well as a barrier to intruding noise.

“The high CAC was one of the main reasons we chose these ceiling panels,” states Sirota. “On this project, the ability to block noise from adjacent spaces was key.”

The learning facility also houses a large open collaboration area surrounded by smaller enclosed spaces where students can work together. To improve the acoustic environment of both, the Total Acoustics ceiling panels will be installed around the perimeter of the open collaboration space as well as in the adjacent closed spaces.

www.armstong.com

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • URI Cuts Underwater Ribbon on New Ocean Robotics Laboratory

    The University of Rhode Island recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new Ocean Robotics Laboratory at its Narragansett Bay Campus, according to a news release. Two students used a remotely operated vehicle to cut an underwater ribbon in a 30-by-20-foot test tank.

  • University of Pennsylvania Releases Design of Future Physical Sciences Building

    The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) in Philadelphia, Penn., recently released renderings of an upcoming 350,000-square-foot Physical Sciences Building, according to news release. The facility was designed by CO Architects and will unite the university’s departments of Physics and Astronomy, Mathematics, and Earth and Environmental Science.

  • Barbara Vick Western Branch

    Barbara Vick Western Branch

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. The Barbara Vick Western Branch has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Grand Prize award in the category of Renovation.

  • Deferred Maintenance Issues Growing at Universities, Gordian Reports

    U.S. colleges and universities are falling increasingly behind on facilities maintenance and repair, according to Gordian’s 13th annual State of Facilities in Higher Education report. The deferred capital renewal burden has reached $156 per gross square foot, an 8% increase over the previous year.