Jesper Staahl
Providing good acoustic performance of a building is part and parcel of what we do today as architects–we work closely with noise/acoustic consultants for this. Minimizing noise issues from traffic and rail for our projects contributes to creating healthy, livable cities that allow a high quality of living for residents, especially for those living in cities. And this is a must due to the need for good infrastructure and mobility options for people as cities continue to grow and densify.
Given that strict regulations dictate acceptable levels of noise, not only for apartments but in some cases also shared outdoor areas such as parks, playgrounds and courtyards, we need to be sure that our designs are compliant from the start. Noise assessments also form part of sustainability certifications.
New demands on architects
For architects, this means that while we are not expected to be expert acousticians, our job now demands that we have good knowledge about the levels and impact of noise and how to deal with unfavorable conditions. This knowledge packs the most at the early phase when the building blocks of a project are, literally and metaphorically, being established. It is most cost- and time-efficient to make changes to a design while it is still being shaped in the digital realm. And the more information we have about a site earlier, the better the project and overall process will be later down the line.
Immediately as soon as massing is being decided on a site, we’ll study the noise conditions closely: for example, traffic noise from a quiet low density residential road at 30km/h would typically not be an issue, but a major traffic corridor into the district would set off alarm bells.
Traditionally noise consultants are not yet able to be engaged this early in a project, often due to time- and resource constraints, but come onboard later for detailed assessments and reports when the design is more advanced. So, the architect has to be the first line of defense, so to speak, to gauge any noise issues on the site.
Removing the guess work from early phase noise assessments
Most architects don’t have easy access to noise analysis technology or if they do it requires in-depth technical expertise and a lot of rework to prepare the model for analysis. Having the Forma Detailed Noise analysis means architects now have access to a layer of information that was up until this point not easily available to us. As the information is integrated into your massing model and the analysis can be connected to a database of roads and traffic data – or you can add your own data – this means you can run your analysis in one single software.
The Detailed noise analysis works hand-in-hand with Forma’s AI-powered Rapid noise analysis which gives predictive, instantaneous results for design guidance; results can then be verified with the Detailed noise analysis. With these noise simulation tools at your fingertips, you can now design with real-time feedback which helps you understand how different design choices impact your site’s noise conditions–you can simulate both current and future scenarios to understand their impact, for example if proposed road conditions change through the site. So by visualizing the problem, you can react at a stage of the design where there are no consequences to exploring alternatives.
Usually interpreting noise analyses results requires technical knowledge but in Forma, the color map makes it easy for everyone to understand (red means problematic and green means good), which comes in handy when communicating with different types of stakeholders from municipality to residents. With Forma’s interoperability with other software we use daily, you can easily transfer your geometry from Revit and Rhino to Forma for analysis.
Improving collaboration with noise consultants
The biggest benefit here for us as architects is that we can start the dialogue with traffic and noise consultants earlier in the process, and these early insights empower us to ask better questions when working together.
We can ask more informed questions, highlight challenges, and together resolve these situations earlier to find the most effective mitigation strategies. For example, moving an opening to a courtyard is a cheap and effective way to mitigate noise pollution from a noisy street. Or perhaps a solution is to change the function of the lowest and noisiest facades from residential to commercial. Noise barriers, noise-proofing façade systems or acoustic glass can also be considered.
Before I started actively using noise analysis tools, I had little knowledge about the definition of dB(A), what kind of inputs are relevant to a traffic noise report, how much heavy traffic and speed affect noise outputs etc. As they say, what is measured is managed. As an architect, I may have needed to know these things previously, but now that I’m familiar with them, I am a better architect for it.
For more information about the Detailed noise analysis and the Rapid noise analysis, please visit the Forma Help Center.
The noise calculations in Forma analysis are in accordance with the Common NOise aSSessment methOdS in Europe (CNOSSOS-EU) developed by the European Commission.