Case Studies

A 22,000 sq.ft. CAT-A heritage project in the heart of Marylebone.

The refurbishment of 42 Wigmore Street required a sensitive and carefully managed approach.  The six-storey building, which includes a basement, was fully modernized through extensive structural and architectural modifications. 

Refurbishments of Grade II listed properties are a speciality here at CSA.
This Cat A refurbishment required Listed building consent together with various planning condition discharges set out by the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, in order to develop a unique office space with top-tier amenities in an outstanding location.

A real challenge in terms of the acoustic demands being set. The long-term home of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) since 1895, 61 Whitehall underwent a complete refurbishment to meet its more modern operational requirements.  A Grade II listed building, it required a refresh to the flooring, library area and function rooms.

Home to some of the world’s best loved films and tv shows. The development consists of almost 84,000 square metres of space, inclusive of three sound stages, workshops, offices, and utilities.

A heritage led scheme taking into account the historic character of the Site, whilst future-proofing
the accommodation into modern offices.

CSA undertook a full suite of works, from planning stage all the way through, culminating in RIBA Stage 6 commissioning works to demonstrate compliance with the acoustic strategy.

A prestigious mixed-use development in the heart of London comprising of apartments, community hall, retail/restaurants, public car park. Our friends at Kier required our expert input and services for building services and architectural acoustics through RIBA Stages 5 and 6. 

Founded by Sir Thomas Gresham in the heart of the City of London as a centre for commerce in the 16th century, and twice rebuilt after fires, this historic monument was used in the 1980’s as a trading floor by the LIFFE exchange before its latest incarnation as a boutique shopping and restaurant destination.

The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, London, is the most exclusive address in the world; a residential scheme whose beauty, luxury and service place it in a class of its own on a global scale. The scale, value and profile of the project put it in a class of its own from the outset.

Trinity Square, a Beaux Arts Grade II* – Listed Building (in the top 8% of Historical Buildings in United Kingdom), is situated between the Tower of London, Tower Bridge and the Square Mile — one of the world’s most important financial centres - and the Tower Conservation Area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Clarke Saunders has undertaken gym
testing for a host of clients for many years.

The importance of good acoustic design has, however, come to the fore more recently, in response to the ballooning 24-hour budget gym industry - such sites can have many acoustic challenges which we at CSA fully understand.

CSA undertook both Client and Tenant works. These included a full suite of RIBA Stage works,
(beginning with the initial Environmental Acoustics (internal noise criteria, noise surveys and
planning compliance), followed by Architectural Acoustics (external and internal building fabric and room acoustics). Acoustic Design Reviews and Hea05 and Pol05 reporting, including investigations into
underground rail vibrations. 

A thoroughly intriguing project at South Essex College – a new performing arts facility within an existing lightweight ETFE atrium structure. The existing atrium had its own acoustic challenges to consider within the design, while the multi-functional performing
arts space required a balance between functionality, integration with the surrounding structure and cost.

Ham Yard is a 14,000m2 mixed use development in the heart of London’s Soho which comprises
hotel, residential accommodation, studio units and retail units located on the lower levels. Clarke Saunders provided full brief services.

Yes, it’s a lovely place to stay!

CSA worked collaboratively with the project team to deliver this Category B Office Refurbishment Fitout project with Reckitt Benckiser.  The refurbishment covers all three upper office floors, the tower room and ground floor facilities. The ground floor level comprises meeting rooms, for internal and external use, as well as a canteen area, gym and a redesign of the central atrium. 

A refurbishment project at Weston Education Centre (WEC), King’s College, London, which consisted of the existing library facility, two lecture theatres, nine classrooms, and a boardroom.  Of particular interest were the acoustician’s favourite: two seminar rooms divided by a moveable partition, which are notoriously hard to get right. 

In an iconic location, sitting at the heart of Clerkenwell & Farringdon, this modernist office building offers 38000 sq ft of flexible workspace with accessibility and sustainability at its heart, The Sans is a scheme designed to promote a better way of working.

A multi-million pound Grade A serviced office development in central London 5 minutes from Victoria Station, the refurbishment and extension of this six storey Grade II listed building was designed to achieve BREEAM Excellent, while also targeting Fitwel 1.

The Central School of ballet was set to move from Clerkenwell to between Tate Modern and
the National Theatre to be part of the South Bank arts community in Southwark.. Clarke Saunders’ involvement included partitions, floor isolation, reverberation, and building services noise. We really got into the weeds with Design Stage work with this one! 

CSA was employed by the design & build contractor to provide a full acoustic brief to address external and internal environments during the design and construction stages of the project.  This required close collaboration with the builder and its design team to ensure awareness of and compliance with the strict requirements set by the Client and planners.

Pembroke House is situated at the southern end of Kensington Village in a commanding position overlooking the central square. Clarke Saunders were involved in this comprehensive CAT A refurbishment of the entire Pembroke Building, including new M&E services throughout this 53,227 sq ft of stunning refurbished workspace over ground and five upper floors.

CSA have provided acoustic consultancy services on many areas of the University of Surrey expansion, such as Manor Park blocks and the village’s reception building. The services provided range from studies and assessments required for planning, development of acoustic criteria and identification of workable solutions.

Bloom Hackney. An exciting development on an existing brownfield site, this new purpose-built warehouse complex in the heart of Hackney Wick includes two best-in-class industrial units totalling 14,940 sq ft, with associated mezzanine office areas, designed to an excellent specification around the needs of modern working life.

A project delivered with precision, collaboration and quality design, 14 Ryder Street included a landscaped roof terrace, designed to enhance tenant wellbeing and modern workplace appeal.  This, combined with a 4th floor office strip and refurb to Cat A standard certainly kept us busy...

It’s always a pleasure to be involved with work in the local area, and this was a wonderful opportunity to do so. We provided detailed acoustic consultancy that allowed this new-build one-bed dwelling to peacefully coexist with the surrounding commercial and residential uses, including a pub with amplified music events.

Helping The Cricketers Inn located in Curdridge to win CAMRA best south east venue 2022, County Pub of the Year in the National Pub and Bar Awards 2022, and best pub garden of the year (Greene King) sits very well with us here at CSA. Almost as much as helping to create the perfect place for family get-togethers and a friend’s catch - The Pavilion Barn!

We were appointed to address the noise impact on local residents, perceived to be caused by a new hydraulic crawler crane at a nearby port on the opposite side of the river Trent. Our detailed surveys concluded that a specific tone with a pitch around 80 Hz was being emitted from the crane’s diesel engine exhaust and was thought to be the cause of the complaint. 

Noise modelling software can be a powerful tool, not only in aiding the complex calculations from numerous sources or numerous receiver points, but in presenting to clients, stakeholders and decision makers easy to understand visual images in the form of noise contour plots or 3D graphical output.

An important aspect of building design, acoustics affects the perceived quality and lived experience from the moment users enter a building. The acoustic performance is heightened to one of the essential functions of the building itself in critical listening spaces such as theatres, auditoria, classrooms and lecture halls.