This confidential project focused on an 11-storey existing residential building located in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia. The building was constructed in 1999 and has undergone several renovations; however, there were complaints from building tenants regarding the noise emerging from the elevator room. NDY provided acoustical design solutions to resolve the problem.
COVID-19 restrictions including social distancing were a key project constraint and affected the planning for the measurements. To comply with COVID – 19 social distancing requirements, it was essential for NDY and the building manager to access the units when they were unoccupied for acoustical testing. The measurements were conducted within empty units to determine the noise intrusions from the elevator machine room and the elevator shafts into the units.
NDY identified that certain parts of the elevator were vibrating, and noise was penetrating to the building through the elevator machine room floor. The vibration transmitted to the entire building structure was being perceived as noise by the residents. To resolve the issue, NDY recommended the installation of vibration isolations, sealing the penetrations for the electrical and hosting cables from the elevator machine room floor and addition of acoustical treatments to the elevator machine room.
Upon implementation of NDY’s acoustical recommendations, the living conditions of the tenants are expected to dramatically improve.
