Project & Case Study Showcase
UNIVERSITY OF SALFORD’ S NEW ACOUSTICS LAB HITS A HIGH NOTE AS CONSTRUCTION REACHES TOPPING OUT MILESTONE
Morgan Sindall Construction has celebrated a major milestone at the University of Salford’ s new acoustics research, testing and teaching facility, marking the topping out of the building as the project progresses well into its structural phase.
The ceremony marks a significant moment in the construction of the state-of-the-art facility, delivered under an £ 18 million contract. The new Acoustics Laboratory forms a centrepiece of Crescent Innovation, a regeneration partnership between Salford City Council, the University of Salford, and ECF( Muse, L & G, and Homes England) that will deliver over 1.7m sq ft of world-class research and business space. Completion of the new 14,000 sq ft acoustics laboratory is scheduled for mid-2027.
Timed to coincide with Noise Action Week( 11 – 15 May), the UK’ s national campaign highlighting noise as a serious public health issue, the facility reflects the growing urgency of acoustics research. The World Health Organisation identifies noise as the second most harmful environmental pollutant after air pollution, with long-term exposure linked to cardiovascular disease, sleep disturbance and cognitive impairment. The University of Salford has been at the forefront of this field for over 60 years, and the new facility represents its latest investment in that capability.
The University is already home to some of the quietest rooms in the world. Its anechoic chambers are specially engineered to absorb virtually all sound, making them capable of ultra-precise measurements, picking up sounds as faint as the hum of a computer fan or an insect crawling across the floor.
The new facility will expand on this capability, centred around a vast triple-height space with vibrationisolating foundations and extra dense concrete walls creating several idealised acoustic environments insulated from external noise. It will include a perception engineering sleep laboratory to understand how noise affects rest and recovery, a four-chamber Building Environment Testing Suite to measure how well modern construction materials protect people from external noise,
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