North Glasgow College
Project Summary
The new 18,300 sq. metre campus for North Glasgow College included facilities for drama, TV, radio and music. Alongside the teaching classrooms there is also a gymnasium, lecture theatre and administration facilities.
The academic teaching spaces are linked to workshops for technical and applied arts by a glazed corridor which enhances the contemporary appearance of the site.
The college was a winner of a RIBA award in 2009 for its innovative and unique design.
In 2013, the college merged with other local education institutions Stowe College and John Weatley College and was re-named as the Glasgow Kelvin College
Services Provide
Key elements affecting the acoustic performance of the completed building included:
- the achievement of a suitable background noise level in each space in relation to mechanical services equipment and air movement
- adequate inter-area sound insulation via walls, floors and ceilings
- impact and other structure-borne sound
- noise attenuation to the external environment
- acoustic quality in each area, compatible with the use of that space.
Special Acoustic Features
Sensitive spaces such as the studios were mechanically ventilated, with the curtain wall façade construction backed by precast concrete panels and a floated box-in-box construction for each space. In addition, the design ensured that the ground floor studios were located as far as possible from the areas that produced the most noise.
The sports hall is located directly beneath open-plan areas so the potential for disturbance was a major consideration. Using an acoustically absorbent, impact resistant ceiling, we were able to reduce the risk of structure-borne impact on the soffit and enhance sound insulation of the separating slab. As well as lessening the effects of activity noise this also ensured that reverberation time within the hall was kept at an acceptable level.
In the adjoining TV, dance and drama studios, movable acoustic partitions were used to allow for the best feasible separation while maintaining the flexibility that was required. However, the positioning of the dance studios over the classrooms was an acoustic risk that required extra consideration. Our recommendation was to carry the floating concrete slab being used in the TV studio through into the adjoining dance space and combine this with heavy independent plasterboard ceilings in the classrooms below, minimising the likelihood of impact sound transmission.