SUSTAINABLE BUILDING
KNAUF AMF’S ACOUSTIC KNOW-HOW CREATES CALM LEARNING SPACES
school in Bolton. Essa Primary School is a £2.4 million project which involved extending and refurbishing an existing building. The combination of old and new buildings posed some unusual installation challenges as Mick Hegarty from Quartus Construction explains: “The installation was not straight forward because the ceilings are at different angles. Knauf AMF recommended products and provided advice on how to fit them. The finished ceilings looks great. I always use Knauf AMF when I can, I find they’re better than the alternatives.”
K
nauf AMF ceilings and Heradesign wall panels were specified to provide
outstanding acoustic control and visual appeal for a new free
Long reverberation times are a problem in schools, particularly classrooms, where the noise level can build up making it difficult for teachers and children to understand one another. Installing acoustic ceilings and wall panels in the classrooms will reduce reverberation and increase speech intelligibility. Heradesign wall panels and Thermatex Antaris ceilings offer the highest Class A sound absorption to control reverberation, and high sound attenuation to reduce the amount of unwanted noise in the classroom, creating calmer, more productive spaces for learning. Heradesign was also chosen for its aesthetic qualities. The school particularly liked that the wall panels could be colour matched to their emblem and make an attractive feature in the classrooms. Heradesign offers designers freedom to choose the colour finish they want because the panels can be matched to almost any colour including those from popular systems such as RAL, NCS or StoColor. Heradesign is manufactured from wood-wool and designed to be robust and offer high impact resistance making them ideal for a classroom. The panels were fitted directly onto the classroom walls using battens, making the installation quick and simple.
In addition to its Class A sound absorption, the white surface of Thermatex Antaris ceiling tiles provide light reflection of over 80%. The ceiling reflects light coming in from outside back into the classroom, creating spaces with lots of natural light and low glare, and helps reduce energy bills. The ceiling can be fitted using either a concealed or exposed grid system.
The school’s corridors can be very noisy
areas. The sound of voices and footsteps on the hard floor can transfer through the walls into the neighbouring classrooms. Thermatex Acoustic ceiling tiles are installed in all the corridors and provide exceptional sound attenuation with insulation to prevent sound transferring through adjoining walls and causing a disturbance in other spaces. Knauf AMF has an impressive track record of working in the education sector. Their team are on hand to provide advice with specifications and building regulations.
For more information, visit
www.amfceilings.co.uk/heradesign or email
info@knaufamf.co.uk.
ADVANCED CUSTOMERS ARE (VERY) HAPPY CUSTOMERS G 14
lobal fire systems business Advanced’s recent customer survey has underlined its position as an industry leader in terms of quality, ease of
use and customer support.
The survey, which included feedback from across Advanced’s customer and
stakeholder groups, was designed to assess Advanced’s position in the market and ascertain where it is working well and where it can improve. It covered all aspects of the business from brand, through products to support and after sales. A staggering 99% of respondents said they would recommend the company’s products to others, and 91% said quality was the most important factor when choosing Advanced products. The endorsement of Advanced’s product quality was matched in its reputation results. 86% thought Advanced was the best/one of the best fire systems suppliers, 70% said Advanced’s products were easier to use and 72% that they performed better. The quality of Advanced’s technical support was reaffirmed with 91% ranking its quality as excellent or good, while 87% of those who had used Advanced training thought it was excellent/good. Advanced’s marketing and communications manager, Aston Bowles
PSS MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015
said: “You don’t run these things to be told what you want to hear, but rather what people want to tell you. We were very pleased by the feedback which, while overwhelmingly positive, did highlight areas where we can improve. To have 99% of our customers saying they’d recommend us is testament to the whole Advanced team, from the designers and technicians right through to the marketing, sales, training and technical support teams. “An area highlighted for improvement was awareness of the features available to members of our Advanced360 online tech support portal and we’re already working on correcting this. We’ve also followed up the many customers who made direct comments on the survey – both positive and negative – directly. We’re a business that succeeds by staying close to customers, and that won’t change.”
sales@advancedco.com www.advancedco.com
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