It’s not often that health privacy is a problem in a public library. Usually, online privacy would be more pertinent. But in this case study, the public library was located on the ground level of a council building. Libraries are usual quiet spaces, so any talking is obvious.

The problem

In the middle of the library was a soaring atrium. It comprised a reflective wooden facade that spanned the remaining floors, creating amplification. A problem for workers when tiny tot story time was going on! The distractions were making it very stressful and difficult to concentrate.

Even worse, glass railings and shiny, wooden steps provided resonance to further amplify any noise. There was no changing this situation due to a heritage listing. While perhaps visually appealing, the sound transfer—and echo—between the spaces was uncomfortable, to say the least.

A bigger problem occurred when council workers were collecting health information in the next level. Library patrons could hear this sensitive health information, clearly in breach of auditory privacy laws.

The solution

Soundmask was asked to ameliorate the noise transfer from the public library into the open office area and vice versa. The design and installation was difficult in part due to extensive variety of surfaces in the including pressed metal, wood & glass.

In the end, zones came to the rescue. We designed a system comprising 8 zones over the two levels with concealed and exposed transducers.

This solved the speech privacy and noise problems for all users. It proved once again sound masking can solve even the most difficult acoustic problems.

To see more pictures from this case study, find it here.