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Sick Building Syndrome Interior Aspect from Nolan.UDA

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INGREDIENTS TO HEALTHY LEARNING

The term 'Sick Building Syndrome' (SBS) is a term used to describe how structural design can inhibit concentration and general wellbeing. SBS can impact individual performance in various environments including corporate, hospitality and education.

Whilst structural factors like ventilation and heating systems can influence SBS, design elements like acoustics and visual aesthetics also play an important role in creating a healthy learning environment. It's no secret that a high quality learning environment is essential for student development and effective teaching, particularly for younger students. Three key areas of focus should include acoustics, colour and comfort.

Industry renowned acoustic consultant and Chairman of The Sound Agency, Julian Treasure, brings forward some remarkable insights as to how sound affects us. Firstly, Treasure explains that ambience and atmosphere can affect a person on a physiological, psychological, behavioural and cognitive level. Sound sub-consciously impacts general mood and mental wellbeing without us even realising it.

Secondly, Treasure discusses how acoustic wellbeing is influenced by surrounding interference. Communication is based upon the transmission, receiving and interpretation of a frequency that occurs when we speak, however interpretation is largely dependent on the surrounding environment. The term reverberation refers to the process when sound travels, it is deflected across surfaces (particularly hard surfaces) and gradually distorts and decays.

This means the children at the back of a classroom that has a lot of hard surfaces will potentially have a harder time understanding the teacher. Further to this, poor acoustics can also onset the Lombard effect where speakers increase their volume when speaking in loud environments in order to enhance the audibility of their voice. This means the general environment gets louder as students try to talk over each other.



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02 9669 3323

3 Bradford Street, Alexandria, NSW, 2015

Nolan Group Profile

02 9669 3323

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