Like many other premises in the tertiary sector, school restaurants (canteens) are spaces of everyday life in which the reverberation should be limited to control ambient sound levels, for the well being of occupants that are both children and supervisory staff. It is often necessary to use in such cases special equipment in terms of architectural acoustics to ensure the habitability requirements for those spaces to which are applicable regulatory provisions related to noise limitation in schools.
ITS has participated in the compliance in terms of acoustics of a school restaurant (canteen) near Aix en Provence (France, Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur region), in a context where the previous total absence of means for limiting the revereration of this premise created (given its use and its volume) a situation being absolutely unacceptable.
Given the annoyance felt by the occupants that led the management crew to consider soundproofing works, a reduction of the reverberation time has made necessary the installation of products and construction systems having acoustic performance namely for medium and high frequencies, covering a sufficient portion of the partitions which, for all of them, were reflecting the sound and did not absorb it.
The existence of a very low height below the ceiling (2.05 m) has led to exclude of possible action plans the implementation of suspended ceiling acoustic tiles and of suspended baffles, what made more complex the development of solutions in terms of sound insulation in buildings.
Was therefore considered when sizing soundproofing equipment a wallcovering made of a high density mineral wool and of a suitable surfacing (fabric) allowing acleaning with a wet cloth.
The prediction (computer calculation) of the characteristics of the restaurant after acoustical works founding the commitment to results taken by ITS in-situ (reverberation time guaranteed) on the basis of a quantity of materials to implement (area of surfaces treated obviously impacting the cost of the works) to the liability of ITS was performed by ITS using the acoustics simulation software SILDIS®.
The measurement of the reverberation time after works has allowed to check the obtainment of the announced performance in terms of acoustics despite the lack of acoustic treatment for the ceiling. A judicious choice of colors for the absorbing panels from a swatch rich of its diversity has helped to obtain a welcoming and very decorative visual atmosphere.
In addition, the course of this project shows - once again - the possibilities for design and optimization of the software SILDIS®, whose computing power and reliability, as well as whose versatility made of it a choice tool for the selection of products and construction systems for many projects of sound insulation.