Acoustic Treatments for Charlieu-Belmont Aquatic Center

The community of Charlieu-Belmont in France wanted to offer a high-end aquatic facility for its 25 000 inhabitants. The SUD architect team, in collaboration with Atelier d’Architecture RIVAT, created a design using biomaterials from local providers such as wooden structures, to stand out from its green surroundings.

The 2,136 m² indoor area is composed of a large pool hall with 3 main sections. A leisure pool for kids to learn how to swim, another section dedicated to water sports, and the relaxation area for the rest of the users (sauna, hammam, hydromassage…). The 2,550 m2 exterior accommodates a splash pad, water slide, and mineral and grassy beaches.

Aquatic centers are usually spaces where noise represents a big challenge. Sound waves bounce between the hard surfaces wall, ceiling, floor, and water. Thus, acoustic consultants become fundamental to guaranteeing users’ enjoyment and safety. For instance, when kids are in swimming classes, an untreated facility will affect their ability to learn and understand what is being said. Besides, alarms and calls for help need to be heard clearly if they occur and employees must quickly comprehend the issue at hand.

To create the proper acoustic environment, our team of acoustic engineers took into consideration different parameters in their design, such as reverberation times, background noise, and speech intelligibility. The acoustic objectives of these parameters were defined to adapt them to each area’s purpose.

Our teams’ main role was to:

• Treat each area’s sound insulation to allow for different activities to operate simultaneously and harmoniously. 
• Design the façade insulation of the building to avoid airborne noise from traveling in or out of the building.    
• Control of the impact noise. 
• Reduce equipment noise to appropriate levels & prevent vibration issues. 
• Optimize reverberation times for comfortable speech intelligibility. 
• Minimize the swimming pool noise impact for the nearby neighborhoods. 

Acoustic consultants are part of a project from the early concept phase since it is key to achieving a good acoustic environment, in a cost-effective way. By working closely with the architects, we are able to put in place acoustic materials that will match the project’s aesthetics and the architect’s visual intentions.   

Soon, Charlieu-Belmonte’s residents will be able to enjoy a refreshing dip within a noise-free environment!