Education
Irrespective of the size of a teaching space and the specific use for which it is intended, certain fundamental acoustic criteria must be considered. One of the most important of these design criteria is Reverberation time. This is a measure of how decaying sound persists in a room and it tells us something of how ‘lively’ or ‘dead’ a room’s acoustics will be and how loud or quiet noise levels sound. For any room, depending upon its size and whether it is primarily for speech or music, there will be an optimum reverberation time range.
Since we all enjoy working in a pleasant environment, design and appearance have become important criteria in school architecture. The surface or colour of a ceiling has a major impact on the atmosphere of different areas. From classrooms to cafeterias, from libraries to corridors and passageways, it is possible to select combinations that reflect the architectural spirit of building.
A bright environment makes reading and therefore learning easier. The quality of light is also dependent on good light reflection. In a school, one main objective is to make the best possible use of daylight to avoid having to use electricity. The ceiling can play a crucial part in optimising light reflectance and can even produce energy savings.
The ceiling must be capable to incorporate numerous components, as lighting and smoke detectors, essential to the utilisation and safety of each space, without adversely affecting its appearance. It is also important to choose materials that are durable and strong and are thus capable of withstanding degradation, maintenance work and climatic changes.
Ceilings must have a good resistance to high levels of moisture. Damp gets in very easily due to rain, wind, windows that are not properly locked and unexpected leaks. Temperature variations during the holiday periods also give plenty of scope for moisture to penetrate the tiles and cause damage. Certain environments, such as kitchens, laboratories and cloakrooms, need particular attention with regards to cleaning. The hygiene range of tiles can be specified to meet specific hygiene standards or regulations.
The Armstrong i-ceilings range of sound panels utilises the revolutionary new loudspeaker technology NXT. Unlike conventional ‘cone’ speakers that operate with a piston-like action, NXT technology introduces resonant vibrations to the entire surface of a lightweight flat panel via an electronic transducer system.In effect, the panel within the ceiling is vibrating in much the same way as a piano or acoustic guitar. Like these musical instruments, new technology i-ceiling panels generate highly diffuse and disperse sound energy (similar in nature to the light emitted from a fluorescent lamp).Sound, therefore, is radiated in all directions to ensure highly intelligible voice and music reproduction and even sound density over the area covered. This is very different to the results of a conventional piston-like cone speaker, which can cause highly directional and often unintelligible speech in large open spaces.
Using i-ceilings in educational facilities ensures using panels that are durable, scratch resistant and easily cleaned. i-ceilings also allow reduced possibilities of loudspeaker theft or vandalism. Using i-ceilings allows delivering highly intelligible public address, improved levels of clarity for voice alarm applications and reduced microphone feedback during presentations.
Further details about the type of false ceilings most appropriate for different areas of educational institutions may be found here.