Acoustic Windows from Mumford & Wood
Current Building Regulations require higher acoustic standards in both new build and conversions. Today, an architect has to design for all routes that noise can travel through the structure, new and old, and of course he will have no control over what has been done in the original construction. By comparison, new builds are simpler to measure. Nonetheless, the building has to be tested to show compliance and it if fails, it has to be corrected and retested.
Every construction material on the specification sheet must therefore play a part in this overall performance from the flooring to the roofing system, to the insulation between brick and block, and of course, to the window system.
Noise from transport, entertainment, industry and all types of human activity surrounds us in today’s increasingly noisy environment and it is important that individual materials and systems play their part. Mumford & Wood, with its rich manufacturing history of over 50 years and recognised specialists in the supply of traditionally designed timber conservation-style doors and windows, has invested extensively to improve their products in the reduction of noise entering a building.
Working closely with gasket, acoustic and glazing specialists, Mumford & Wood have developed acoustic variations for their range of premium quality windows which have been independently tested to BSEN IOS-1:1997 to achieve an audited average sound reduction between 36dB and 38dB.
In the most recent conversion project by a leading volume housing developer, acoustic glass was specified in Mumford & Wood’s conservation sliding timber sash windows and doors due to the proximity to the ever increasing impact of London Stansted Airport. In this development, which involved the conversion of a former workhouse and infirmary, there are now 270 dwellings across a collection of buildings which includes a Grade II listed property. Here, over 400 bespoke windows and doors, including heavy duty pre-tensioned spiral spring-balanced sashes, casements, French doorsets and entrance doors, as well as hundreds of bespoke semi-circular headed frames, have been designed and manufactured incorporating Mumford & Wood’s acoustic glazing.
New acoustic sash products combine acoustic double glazing together with fitted acoustic brush and special interlock gaskets giving a sound reduction of 36dB. Conservation casements are now fitted as standard with a hi-tech soft seal gasket that achieves outstanding performance in resistance to air and sound, and when combined with acoustic glass a sound reduction of 38dB is achieved.
“Understandably, incorporating any modern and technically superior materials into the construction of a traditionally designed product might well have a detrimental impact on the visual aspect of the product,” says John Mumford, Managing Director, “but we can confidently say that the modifications and improvements we have engineered have in no way detracted from the visual impact of our products which have been faithfully reproduced to incorporate many historic features. They have been improved in every aspect.”
Mumford & Wood have more recently introduced a Contemporary range of stylish and modern windows and doors which are also made from engineered laminated Douglas Fir or Larch as standard, and these too have been design modified to achieve the new required acoustic standards of performance in combination with acoustic glass. They are made-to-order and achieve clean, crisp, modular lines in today’s contemporary architecture.
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