Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Nathan Bishop Middle School Makes Transformation with Help From Acentech

  • 08/01/13
Nathan Bishop Middle School Makes Transformation with Help From Acentech 

Acentech worked with Ai3 to upgrade the acoustical standards of Nathan Bishop Middle School in Providence, R.I.

After a three year, $35 million renovation, Nathan Bishop Middle School transformed from a decaying, struggling institution into one of the most sought after public middle schools in Providence, R.I.

During the renovation, Acentech worked closely with Ai3 Architects to upgrade the original 1920s building to the acoustical standards of the 21st century. Following the acoustical goals established by the Collaborative for High Performance Schools in New England and the ANSI S12.60-2002 American National Standard of Acoustical Performance Criteria, Design Requirements and Guidelines for Schools, Acentech focused its recommendations on room acoustical treatments, sound isolation and mechanical systems noise control. We ensured that acoustical treatments, in the classrooms as well as other activity spaces (e.g. gymnasium, cafeteria and auditorium), were suitably selected and distributed in order to control the reverberation time, achieve high speech intelligibility and overall acoustical comfort.

Acentech specified wall and floor/ceiling constructions as well as door and window systems to provide an adequate degree of sound isolation between adjacent spaces. Finally, Acentech worked with the mechanical engineering team to ensure that the noise from the mechanical systems were quiet and did not have a negative effect on the learning environments.

Acentech
www.acentech.com

This article originally appeared in the School Planning & Management August 2013 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • College of the Desert Hits Construction Milestone on New Campus

    College of the Desert recently announced that the construction of its new Palm Springs Campus in Palm Springs, Calif., recently reached a major construction milestone, according to a news release. The college is partnering with general contractor C.W. Driver Companies, which recently “topped out” the facility by placing the final beam in its structure.

  • How a Portable Sink Helped an Art Classroom Run More Smoothly

    Classroom design decisions can have outsized effects on instructional time and safety at schools juggling mismatched infrastructure, strict budgets, and crowded schedules — particularly in the arts. Between spilled paint and dirty brushes, art classes run smoother with a sink in the studio. But many schools don’t have a sink in every art classroom.

  • 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.

  • Classical building columns display digital data streams

    The Campus Nervous System: Why Facilities Risk Is Now a Leadership Issue in Higher Education

    Facility performance now intersects with safety, compliance, on-campus experience, institutional reputation, and financial resilience. That places it firmly on the leadership agenda.