The Project
Construction of an $8 million learning and research centre for children with impaired hearing is underway in Auckland.
Auckland charity Hearing House is building a specialised facility for deaf children, their families and adults who have suffered sudden or gradual hearing loss. The facility will be able to provide services for up to 450 adults at any one time.
Chief executive Scott Johnston said the project has been five years in planning.
"It's unique in that the facility will offer a cradle to grave service for children and adults that require cochlear implants," Johnston said.
The Hearing House was first established in 1998 to support deaf children with cochlear implants and hearing aids. A cochlear implant is a device that provides hearing sensations for deaf people who don't benefit from hearing aids.
Johnstone said the centre will also include a research and training centre run in partnership with the University of Auckland.
"It's going to provide some real leadership in that area."
Text abridged from an article originally reported on stuff.co.nz. Read the full article here.
Acoustic Challenges
Designing ways to control the ambient sound levels in audiological testing rooms was a key challenge in the Hearing House Project because of the need to comply with stringent NZ government testing standards for audiology.
Marshall Day Acoustics met this challenge by:
- Ensuring the testing rooms were well isolated from each other, and the rest of the building, on floating concrete floor systems
- Proposing and overseeing the laboratory testing of low-noise chilled beam systems for cooling
- Designing acoustic treatment options to provide a balanced and highly controlled acoustic environment for the patients and specialists using each room
Establishing a close relationship with the client, architect and audiological specialists, was key to developing the design and this collaboration helped the Project team adapt quickly and efficiently to overcome challenges.
Timelines
The expansion is expected to be completed at the end of 2017.
