I’m a senior acoustic engineer with experience in the New Zealand and Australian markets, having worked in NDY’s Melbourne office and now based in Auckland. I work across various markets and acoustics subfields ranging from fitouts to datacentres, with a keen interest in rail noise and vibration. Acoustics forms an integral part of the human experience and I take great delight in imagining how a space will sound and how that contributes to the overall feel.
Crows Nest Station is a new underground train station on the Sydney Metro City & Southwest (SMC&SW) line. With entrances on the busy Pacific Highway and Hume Street, the project includes improved bicycle links and pedestrian crossings as well as retail, commercial and residential over-station developments. It’s a fascinating project that will create a new inner city transport focus, serving those within cycling and walking distance of the station.
The acoustics design includes absorptive panels, which are located throughout public areas including the station entry, concourse and platforms, to reduce reverberation time and improve speech intelligibility. The extent and location of the panels were optimised using 3D acoustic modelling software, with our team undertaking detailed calculations performed to select attenuators in order to reduce noise levels from station equipment (that effects both station users and the surrounding environment).
The design for the Station involved consultation with various stakeholders, with the major interested parties including the Crows Nest Design Consortium, Sydney Metro and the NSW Department for Planning and Environment. As noise emissions to surrounding neighbours included noise sources from different design teams involved with the wider SMC&SW project, intensive coordination was required between NDY and the various design consortia to ensure that overall noise budgets were achieved. We managed information transfer through regular knowledge sharing sessions to ensure each party was working with the most up-to-date data.
It’s been a significant and very rewarding undertaking, and I can’t wait to experience the finished product.
Areas of expertise:
Architectural acoustics, building services, rail noise and vibration, environmental noise, room acoustics.
