Helping the Department of Health Tasmania create better environments
“The soundproofing is fantastic. The noticeable benefits for our patients are widely noted. The installation by Stan was very professional and to a high standard”
– A/Clinical Nurse Consultant, Roy Fagan Centre.
The challenge
The Roy Fagan Centre, part of the Department of Health Tasmania, is a mental health accommodation facility where patients can stay short or long term. The facility has four wings, each consisting of ten bedrooms, a dining area, a living area, and staff areas.
Like many medical facilities, the Roy Fagan Centre is largely constructed of hard surfaces which reflect sound, making the facility very loud. Too much noise can negatively impact most of us; however, noise can easily be overstimulating for sufferers of a mental health condition. This negatively impacts the patient, other residents, and staff.
Main noise concerns
- The facility’s large dining room and living room were constructed entirely of hard surfaces, creating a very noisy place once all patients and staff assembled in this area. This noise led to a chaotic dining environment.
- Like the dining and living room, the facility’s bedrooms featured hard surfaces, also with rattly doors. Often if a patient were feeling unsettled, they would shake the timber doors, causing them to bang against the door frame. This caused a very noisy disruption and upset other patients.
Roy Fagan Centre discovered Avenue while looking for options to create a quieter facility that would be more suitable for patients and staff.
The Avenue Solution
As the project started during the first COVID wave, an Avenue Interior Systems consultant couldn’t travel to the site, part of our normal paid site visit process. Instead, our Tasmanian installer went to the site to meet the client, using Facetime to communicate with our Queensland office. This gave the team the information they needed about the walls and ceilings that required treatment.
From there, the design team went to work to create the best acoustic solution for the Roy Fagan Centre. As part of the design process, the clients were sent samples to pick their ideal colour palette and understand how the products work.
Avenue products used
To achieve a lower volume, reduce reverberation, and stop doors rattling, Avenue used a combination of products, including:
The Avenue team used 25 mm Calando Panels on the ceiling of the common areas and in the bedrooms to achieve optimal results. They installed Calando One Panels on the walls in the bedrooms and Calando acoustic fabric on the common area walls.
To reduce, or even stop, the disruption from the patients’ bedroom doors banging, the team used a surround and drop acoustic seal in conjunction with extra foam to absorb the impact noise of the slamming doors.
| Calando Panel | Calando Panel allows for complete design flexibility. Available in three prime colours, the panel can also be custom covered in Calando fabric or have a photo printed onto it. The 100% polyester product provides durable long-term stability and performance in addition to its premium acoustic performance. |
| Calando acoustic fabric | Calando acoustic fabric is a great way to reduce reverberation and echo while creating a durable and creative wall finish. The 100% polyester product is pin and hook & loop receptive, making it ideal for use in common areas to display messages and art. |
| Calando One | Calando One is a lightweight and easy-to-install sound-absorbing product combining simplicity, aesthetics, and acoustic control. This product is also pin-receptive, making it ideal for patients’ bedrooms. |
| Acoustic soor seals | Acoustic door seals are easy to install and are adjustable by concealed fixing slots. The seals are primarily used with solid timber doors to reduce noise and air movement leakage. |
Results Achieved by Avenue
The installation of acoustic products in the spaces improved the environment for staff and patients. The improvements in the first wing were so great that Roy Fagan Centre went on to complete similar installations in the remaining three areas of the facility.
For more information about noise control solutions for your medical facility, contact Avenue Interior Systems on 1300 827 177.
We look forward to Designing Your Silence.
