Urban Living

Controlling vibration and thermal energy are key factors in the urban built environment which will become increasingly important as the percentage of populations migrate into and grow within cities and towns. According to the UN World Urbanization Prospects project, 54% of the world’s population was living in urban areas in 2016 (up to over 75% in the West) and the is expected to rise to 68% by 2050.

As part of our overall mission to Support a better world, there are key areas that we are proud to make a valuable contribution to the heath and wellbeing of people living in cities and towns, the first of which is allowing people in residential buildings, hotels, offices, schools, universities and increasingly mixed-use buildings to sleep, rest and focus whilst simultaneously having close or direct access to:

1. Integrated transport systems without being affected by groundborne noise and vibration from underground and overground rail
2. Intense and immersive leisure activities that generate structure-borne noise such as bars, night clubs, cinema, bowling, karting etc
3. Critical infrastructure such as and lifts/elevators and plant rooms for modern, energy efficient heat pumps, cooling systems
4. Efficient logistics and last mile deliveries from urban, multi-storey warehousing incorporated into residential buildings

The World Health Organization’s Night Noise Guidelines for Europe 2009 report states that:

“There is sufficient evidence for biological effects of noise on sleep” and the noise and vibration levels they consider as threshold can easily be exceeded when a building is constructed over or near underground or overground rail.

Biological effects and threshold levels for effects during sleep.

[1] World Health Organization (2009) Night noise guidelines for Europe; Hurtley C, editor. Copenhagen, Denmark: World Health Organization.
[2] Physiological Reaction Thresholds to Vibration during Sleep by the Sahlgrenska Academy Institute of Medicine

Global experts in building vibration isolation

Farrat are global experts in building vibration isolation to control the effects of groundborne and structure-borne vibration and reradiated noise from affecting buildings, adding value throughout the value chain that includes:

1. Specialist consultancy services for developers and their design teams to assess if vibration mitigation measures are even required and if so to what extent and then developing the optimal scheme and detailed designs ready for manufacture and installation. This is a highly valued service as it provides risk and cost certainty throughout the project and ensures that the design can follow the standard development stage sequence without having to re-design crucial parts of the structure, waterproofing, insulation, facade and fit out to accommodate the building vibration isolation and or box-in-box systems and all other detailing required to maintain an effective isolation line throughout the structure.
2. Manufacture and supply from our factory in Manchester, UK of a broad portfolio of products and systems that can deal with all requirements to decouple the structure and facade from the noise source. When required we will develop bespoke designs to fit into constrained locations or particular XYZ load requirements.
3. Assurance services ranging from basic installation support and inspection through to full responsibility to ensure the building will achieve the acoustic requirements.
4. Troubleshooting. We are proud of the fact that we have never been (and we work hard to ensure that we will never be) involved with a project that has not delivered the acoustic and structural requirements however we have been called in to cases where that was the case, for example if the anti-vibration measures were omitted, if the acoustic recruitments within the building have tightened up, e.g. from change of use, or if the noise source gets worse, e.g. deterioration in the rail track leading to higher levels of groundborne noise. If so, please contact us to see if we can help identify the problem and develop a retrofittable solution.

All of which are aimed towards achieving multiple objectives:

1. Improve health and wellbeing of people living in urban environments by protecting them from un-wanted structure-borne noise
2. Enabling developers to convert complex, brownfield sites and existing buildings that are affected by ground/structure-borne noise into functional assets
3. Developing resource efficient designs, reducing the amount of concrete (mass is often relied upon to reduce vibration) in the building as well as designs that can last the life of the building and be recycled or even re-used afterwards.
4. Maximise the return on investment by:
   • maximising the functional space available within the building(s)
   • developing efficient designs that:
     • remain as close to the architectural intent as possible
     • achieve the optimum cost, programme and risk balance between the acoustic and structural designs
     • are robust and designed for the life of the building
5. Maximising contractors’ profitability through cost certainty and by creating robust systems that don’t require installation by specialist contractors
6. Building trust for a long-term business

Example Projects

Here are some examples of projects we have successfully delivered in the last 3 years:

• Super Prime Residential: 20 Grosvenor Square, Regents Crescent, 60 Curzon Street, 3 Fitzroy Square
• Residential: Anthology Deptford Foundry & Tottenham Hale Works, Ashley Road East, 340a Clapham Road, Lewisham Exchange, Stadshagen Gothenburg, The Whytecliffe at Purley
• Hotels: Dorset Hotel Shepherds Bush, Westbury Hotel Mayfair, Edinburgh Haymarket B2, 181 Talgarth Road Hammersmith
• Offices: 21 Moorfields, The HUB Victoria, Google Landscraper Kings Cross, Edinburgh Haymarket B1