Fogo Island Inn is an unparalleled contemporary inn located on the northeast coast of Newfoundland. The inn was designed and built as a luxury hotel, with guests’ comfort being one of its primary design objectives. This article describes Fogo Island Inn’s acoustic comfort design features.
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What is Acoustic Comfort?
The term “acoustic comfort” does not appear in standard acoustics textbooks (for example, in [References 1, 2, 3]). However, a research paper sponsored by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) does attempt to define and quantify it [4]. The article defines acoustic comfort as follows:
The comfort provided by a housing unit is characterized by:
- isolation from exterior noise,
- isolation from the noise produced by human activity inside neighbouring units,
- isolation from mechanical noise.
Another research paper also addresses acoustic comfort, quantifying it statistically as a function of sound transmission loss between adjacent occupancies in multi-residential buildings [5].
Both references [4] and [5] characterize acoustic comfort as the absence of unwanted sound (noise) and quantify it in terms of sound isolation from neighbors, and also specify a maximum level of background noise produced by mechanical systems. In this article, I will present a discussion of a successful effort to maximize acoustic comfort within the Fogo Island Inn.
Site Planning
Favourable site selection is key to successful building noise control [6]. In this regard, Fogo Island Inn virtually cornered the world. The hotel is in a remote location on Fogo Island, away from urban noise, traffic, or airplane overflights. The only sounds heard at this location are those of nature, ocean surf, rain, and wind.
The site is acoustically ideal, as it is located near one of the corners of the world.
Traffic Noise
The local road and the guest parking are about 500 m from the Inn. Access to the Inn is by a short scenic walk over a driveway on foot or by an Inn vehicle. This parking location respects the Inn’s neighbouring community, lessens the environmental impact on the surrounding area, and virtually eliminates traffic noise at Fogo Island Inn.
Windows
Windows are an important component of any building in terms of acoustics, as they usually constitute the weakest part of a building envelope [7]. Even though there is no traffic noise, the windows selected for Fogo Island Inn building are triple-glazed, primarily for thermal efficiency. Triple-glazed windows also provide good sound attenuation performance reducing the sound of ocean surf and wind inside guest suites (should this be desired). Windows in each guest suite can be opened to admit fresh coastal air and soothing natural sounds.
Sound Isolation Inside the Building
Walls
From the guest's perspective, an acoustically important function of walls is to block sounds from adjacent suites and common areas. The walls dividing suites at Fogo Island Inn feature double construction with two layers of drywall on each face, which provides excellent sound-blocking property [8]. These walls span from the floor to the underside of the concrete ceiling deck above, and they are carefully constructed and caulked around the perimeter to eliminate sound leaks.
Often, electrical boxes are installed in the walls of adjoining suites, creating openings that weaken the acoustic insulation of walls. To mitigate this problem, all electrical boxes in Fogo Island Inn are encased in fireproofing putty, which also reduces sound transfer. In locations where electrical boxes were installed back-to-back on shared walls (sometimes an unavoidable feature of interior design), mass-loaded vinyl sheets were installed behind the boxes inside the walls to mitigate the problem [9].
Floors/Ceilings
The floor/ceiling structure in any building is notoriously susceptible to the transmission of impact noise. To address this problem, Fogo Island Inn’s floor/ceiling structure has the following features:
- There is a large space above the drop ceiling, between the drop ceiling and the underside of the concrete ceiling deck above, which reduces noise transmission.
- The underside of the concrete ceiling deck above the drop ceiling is lined with 3.5 inches of rock wool insulation. This helps to dampen sound transmission between floors.
- All sub-floors are floating, installed over resilient foam mat which dampens the sound of footsteps. All flooring layers are separate in each guest suite and do not connect to adjacent suites. This separation helps minimize the transfer of airborne and impact noise [10].
Doors
Doors to guest suites must eliminate noise from hallways. Fogo Island Inn suites have heavy, solid wood doors with complete acoustic seals around the perimeter and automatic door sweep [11].
HVAC
The heating and air-conditioning system in any building has the potential to degrade the acoustic comfort of spaces inside a building. There are several sources of noise in HVAC systems:
- Mechanical room
The physical separation of the mechanical room that contains noisy equipment is an important element of noise control in any building [12]. The floor plan of Fogo Island Inn was designed with this consideration in mind.
- The A/C unit, wood boiler, laundry facilities, and emergency electrical generator are all located in a separate building (outbuilding), away from guest suites.
- The kitchen is located in a part of the building that is not near guests' suites.
- One of the mechanical rooms in the basement is located beneath the kitchen to ensure it is far from guest suites. The second mechanical room is unavoidably located beneath four of the guest suites, so it is soundproofed utilizing a drop ceiling suspended by springs, eliminating the transfer of mechanical equipment's noise [13]. - Ventilation
Fogo Island Inn is heated entirely by in-floor radiant heat. It also has a central ventilation system that controls humidity during the heating season and both temperature and humidity during air-conditioning season. Since rapid air movement creates noise, the Fogo Island Inn ventilation system is designed for low air velocity, minimizing noise [14].
The supply and return air ducts connecting guest suites to the main air distribution ducts are equipped with silencers. These prevent noise propagation through the ductwork [15].
Plumbing
Plumbing noise can be reduced primarily by careful installation. At Fogo Island Inn, all water and drain pipes are insulated for thermal efficiency and acoustic reasons. Also, all pipes are secured to structural components with elastic mounts [16].
Since the building has a flat roof and rainwater is collected in a basement cistern for re-use, rainwater leaders are located within the building structure. These were carefully placed away from guest spaces. In the few locations where physical separation was impossible, the pipes run through sound-attenuating enclosures.
Public address audio system and sound-masking
Sound masking introduces specially engineered low-level noise into a room, making undesirable noises less noticeable. Sound masking is most often used in open space offices to increase the speech privacy of workstations.
Generally, audio systems and sound-masking are not incorporated into acoustic comfort [4, 5]. However, at least one magazine article links these systems to acoustic comfort [17]. The Inn uses a public address system that can make announcements in specific parts of the building, thus minimizing the disturbance experienced by occupants of other parts of the building. Fogo Island Inn also includes sound masking in common areas, as well as in guest suites. Each guest suite has user controls to adjust (or turn off) the masking sound level to suit the individual guest’s preferences.
Reverberation control
Reverberation is the sound resulting from multiple reflections of the original sound wave from walls, ceiling, and floor. This sound can persist for several seconds after the original sound has stopped. The persisting sound increases the overall noise level in the room and, in some cases, impairs speech communication within the room [18]. Adequate sound reverberation control is generally not considered a component of acoustic comfort [4, 5], but it should not be overlooked. Many, if not most public spaces in today’s North American architecture have inadequate sound absorption resulting in unpleasantly noisy environments.
Fogo Island Inn’s interior is finished with hand-assembled wood cladding. This material absorbs some sound, particularly at lower frequencies [19]. Therefore, reverberation is well controlled in common areas, except in the large art gallery space; the gallery space is used for staging art exhibits, so the reverberant sound contributes to the ambience of the exhibition.
Conclusion
Fogo Island Inn has achieved the ultimate acoustic comfort by following good design practices that many architects and builders often overlook. Those interested in improving acoustic comfort in their spaces may take note of these design features.
ABOUT FOGO ISLAND INN
Fogo Island Inn sits on an Island, off an Island, at one of the Earth's four corners. Every one of the Inn’s 29 one-of-a-kind guest suites has dramatic floor-to-ceiling windows that open onto the wildest and most powerful ocean on the planet, located less than 100 feet from an organic natural-fiber dream bed. Most suites have a wood-burning fireplace stove; all are furnished with quiet luxuries and handmade furniture and quilts - a stimulating relief from the numbing uniformity of modern times. Built on the principles of sustainability and respect for nature and culture, the award-winning Inn was designed by architect Todd Saunders. The Inn is a community asset, and all surpluses from the operation are reinvested in the community to help secure a long-lasting resilience for Fogo Island, Newfoundland.
More information on Fogo Island Inn can be found at the Inn's website
References
[1] Master Handbook of Acoustics, Sixth Edition (2015) by Everest & Pohlmann (McGraw Hill Education)
[2] Noise Control Manual for Residential Buildings (1997) by David A. Harris (McGraw Hill)
[3] Architectural Acoustics Illustrated (2015) by Michael Ermann (Wiley)
[4] CMHC publication: Qualification of the Degree of Acoustic Comfort Provided by Multi-Family Buildings - Phase II
[5] Inter-Noise 2010 conference paper: Thermal and Acoustic Comfort in Buildings
[6] Reference [2], page 15
[7] Reference [1], page 355
[8] Reference [1], page 330
[9] Reference [2], page 71
[10] Reference [2], page 58
[11] Reference [1], page 369
[12] Reference [2], page 85
[13] Reference [1], page 345
[14] Reference [1], page 385
[15] Reference [1], page 388
[16] Reference [2], page 103
[17] Constructor Magazine, article “Acoustic Comfort in Green Buildings”
[18] Reference [2], page 45
[19] Reference [1], page 206
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