SS Great Britain – Museum Soundproofing
Client: | SS Great Britain Museum |
Location: | Bristol |
Sector: | Commercial |
An unusual but fascinating project for Hush Acoustics to be involved in the SS Great Britain, one of the most important historical ships in the world. Created by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, an engineering giant, in 1843.
The ship marked the beginnings of international passenger travel and world communications and is now a museum being branded “One of the UK’s finest visitor attractions” by the Mail on Sunday.
The team at SS Great Britain were adding to the visitor experience by opening a new museum featuring multiple exhibits. The main exhibit is ‘Brunel’s Mind’ in which visitors enter inside the head of Isambard Brunel to see the world through his eyes.
Why is sound reduction materials needed
Electrosonic, who are innovative technology experts were tasked with supplying and fitting most of the audio-visual equipment for the project, with the main ’mind’ being a 12’ circular room with two rear-mounted projectors.
Visitors enter into Brunel’s mind and face forward to see his views on his creations, however, there was a concern around the Reverberation times in this area. Hush acoustics were contacted by Chris Hurst at Electronsonic to see if we could be of any assistance.
What materials have been used to soundproof the area?
After discussing the project with Chris, we specified our Hush Wall Covering for the area in Black, which is our unique non-woven high-density polyester, targeting mid-range frequency sound i.e. speech etc. to make the audio presentation sound as it should.
Hush wall covering achieves exceptional noise-reducing performance levels, as well as being aesthetically pleasing. The product is specifically designed to be installed onto walls where reverberation noise is a problem and causes lack of speech clarity. In addition to the acoustic values, the Hush wall covering is designed to improve the thermal performance of the wall it is placed upon.
The Hush wall covering is a thin 10mm product and so it utilises little space, which was perfect for the room in which it was used. The product was developed as a direct result of extensive consultation with influential members of the education sector.
The product started life to be installed into classrooms and general education areas where noise reduction will enhance the learning experience. Due to the initial success, Hush wall covering is now used to improve general acoustics across the varying market sectors.
Chris Hurst from Electrosonic was very pleased with the results of the wall covering and for our quick turnaround time. Chris says the product does “exactly what it says on the tin”.
We are proud to have been involved in such an exceptional project and are satisfied that the thousands of visitors will have an enjoyable experience once inside the mind of Brunel.
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