Following a meeting at the Sandown Park Christian Resources Exhibition we were contracted to carry out an Acoustic Survey at United Reform Church Peace Hall, Oxted.

The Hall was reported as being used for a variety of events including a pre-school children's group but was not described as being good for speech intelligibility; in fact, the noise level created by a group of people, especially children, was sufficient to render communication almost impossible.

Our survey revealed that whilst background noise was acceptably low, the reverberation times were horrendously long for the purpose of speech intelligibility and even too long for music performance.

Our proposed remedy was the introduction of acoustic absorption material into the room.

To assist the client in the decision making process, our approach was to produce various prediction tables showing the likely effect of certain numbers of panels and the proportionate benefit in reduction of reverberation.

By referring to the prediction charts the client was able to select a package of acoustic treatment which offered a compromise balance between the required level of speech intelligibility and an acceptable visual appearance.

The aesthetics were further assisted by the acoustic panels being covered in open weave cloth of a colour to complement the interior decoration.