Architect: Morris Bray Martin Ollmann Architects
Builder: Buildcorp Commercial
Location: New South Wales
Product: Acoustic Operable Walls

Tiered seating bi-sected by an acoustic moving wall

The Sydney Adventist Hospital is located in Wahroonga just north of Sydney and has recently ungone an upgrade to its teaching facilities which includes the construction of a lecture theatre. A key feature of the theatre is the ability to run two different activities concurrently when the space is divided by the Lotus moving wall. To achieve this a suitable sound rating (Rw 49) was specified and careful attention to detail on the design and manufacture of the wall ensured this translated well on site. Key challenges on the project were:

• Meeting the required acoustic performance and accommodating the wall terminating into a balustrade and then continuing across an access corridor
• Consulting with the builder regarding the data cable trench at the front of the hall and how this might impact on the acoustic performance of the wall
• Packaging of the parked panels so they did not protrude into the lecture space too much
• Ensuring ease of operating the panels for the end user via a unique curved radius tracking system with programmed diverters that ensure the panels only go where they are intended to. There 5.8m high panels can be move down the track, and more importantly through the stacking junctions, with the use of one finger.
• Ensuring the panel seals can be activated from all positions on the seating tier and coordinating with the builder to ensure the tier detail suited the exact requirements of the moving wall system.

All walls were acoustically testing on site and met and in some cases exceeded the acoustician’s requirements.