Acoustic Coatings

The home of time itself. The Royal Observatory is one of the most important historic scientific sites in the world.  Founded by Charles II in 1675 it is known throughout the world as being the official starting point for each new day, year and millennium.

The Royal Observatory has undergone a major £15 million redevelopment which includes new galleries, an education centre and a state-of-the-art planetarium with acoustic decorative coatings and sound proofing to match; within this facility the acoustic ambience is fundamental to the success of the venue.

During the fit out of the planetarium prior to the application of SonaSpray acoustic decorative finish, it was noticed by all how reverberant the dome was.

Finding an acoustic product that would take the shape of the dome, appear as black as night and therefore invisible to the audience, would normally have been an ordeal.  The reverberation problem was solved with through coloured Black SonaSpray K-13 noise reduction insulation coating from Oscar Acoustics’ range of acoustic decorative finishes & colours.

Arup Acoustics the acoustic installation projects consultants carried out an extensive acoustic analysis of the new Planetarium before construction. SonaSpray K-13 was then specified at 50mm thick for the curved concrete walls and 75mm thick for the discoid ceiling, the acoustic coating was installed in a single visit of 4 days spraying to the required thickness in one coat.

Other planetariums with similar reverberation issues that have used SonaSpray acoustic coating to  good effect are:

National Space Centre Planetarium, Leicester.
Bristol Planetarium.

Results:  Superb building acoustics from Oscar Acoustics wide range of acoustic coatings!

 

Acoustic Coating article by D.Mack of Oscar Acoustics.