Thorne Harbour Health (formerly, The Victorian AIDS Council Inc) provides professional, affordable counselling for individuals and couples who are affected by or at risk of HIV, and for members of the GLBT community.
The client approached Soundmask seeking a solution to speech privacy and noise problems in its head office. The office consisted of two storeys including an open plan area, meeting rooms and counselling suites.
The problem
Counselling and other confidential conversations were taking place in most of the suites. The client’s solution had been to play the radio in the reception area, and try and keep talking in hallways to a minimum.
Counselling manager Christine Barca* explained the experience before having a Soundmask system installed in the space:
‘’Before we installed it, there was lots of whispering and ‘Please Be Quiet’ signs everywhere. It could be very unnerving for clients if they heard someone else’s voice. It makes them worry about the confidentiality of their own sessions.”
The solution
Soundmask installed a Soundmask system comprising in-ceiling transducers and a generator.
Barca gave her impression of the system once it had been installed:
‘’You don’t even notice when it’s switched on, but you certainly notice it when it’s off because it feels quite strange. Then you turn it back on and you realise it’s actually very soothing.’’
Later, Soundmask installed a zone distributor so that the meeting rooms could be set at a different level compared with the rest of the Thorne Harbour Health building.