Summary:

An heritage building, built 1895, was converted to a Four Seasons Hotel. Renovations to the structure included adding fourteen new elevators, new HVAC system, laundry and kitchens.

Solution:

An heritage building, built 1895, was converted to a Four Seasons Hotel. Renovations to the structure included adding fourteen new elevators, new HVAC system, laundry and kitchens.

Noise Control for Guest Rooms

The pre-existing floor consisted of terracotta arch, covered with sand and a wood floor. The new floor system was designed for both structural capacity and acoustic isolation. Acoustic isolation takes two forms: Sound reduction between guest rooms and reduction of impact noise (heel tapping) to the room below.

Traffic noise was reduced by providing an exterior of thermal double glazing and an interior sull sash of heavy glass which reduced street noise to less than the background from the guest room fan-coil unit.

Major Noise Considerations

The spa, including swimming pool and whirl pools was located on the sixth floor above guest rooms: special floor construction and vibration isolation was used to attenuate structure-borne noise to the guest rooms below.

Similarly the 1500kw diesel generator was located directly above a guest room. Special double floor and room-within-room construction was used to contain the noise from the diesel generator. Additionally, special mufflers and silencers were used to prevent diesel exhaust noise from reaching either rooms within the Hotel or adjacent neighbors.

The cooling tower and HVAC equipment was located as far away as possible from guest rooms, control of air-borne noise was designed into the HVAC packages in order to meet FSH standards.

Acoustic treatments were specified for FOH spaces such as the ballroom and lobby. The lobby for the Hotel was part of an original galleria running the length and width of the building.
For the lobby, sound absorbing material was introduced as a spray-on plaster material which was tinted to the architect’s requirements. The material has a slightly rough texture reminiscent of antique plaster or stucco finishes, thus providing both sound absorption and an appropriate appearance.