Solving echoing sound issues within Scouts centre, Cheshire

When the 35th South West Cheshire Scouts moved into their brand new £285,000 state of the art Scout Centre, they immediately noticed that a problem with extreme echoes in the main hall.

The hall is used by over 120 Beavers, Cubs and Scouts weekly, plus wider community use, so it was imperative that the acoustic issues were resolved as quickly as possible.

The building itself was purpose built and is a conventional brick construction lined with Thermalite blocks. The main activity area measures 11 x 11 metres and around this are toilets, a kitchen, large equipment store and a small meeting room.

The store area remains with the painted Thermalite blocks, but the remainder of the building has been rendered and skimmed with plasterboard.

The decision was made by the Scout leaders that it was inappropriate to use plasterboard in the main activity hall fearing it would not stand up to the rigorous activities of the scouts and would soon get damaged, therefore opting for render and plaster. The ceiling was skimmed plasterboard.

After immediate recognition of the acoustic problems within the building, the organisation approached Hush for advice and guidance.

Our technical manager carried out tests, calculating the overall existing reverberation time to be 3.9 seconds with a peak at 500 Hz of 5.39 seconds. Subjectively the reverberation time seemed longer, around 6-8 seconds, which was surprising in a hall of these dimensions and construction.

After carrying out the tests on the centre, Hush recommended a solution to treat the hall (aiming for a reverberation time of 1.5 seconds over the wider frequency spectrum) using 40x Hush Absorber 50 panels.

The transformation was instantaneous, with immediate feedback that they could hear the room recovering. John Bennett, Group Scout Leader, said

“The result has exceeded our hopes, it is now possible to have a quiet conversation whilst 20+ six to eight year olds are having fun! Not only that, it looks good as well.