Tedco Corus Building /
Diamond & Schmitt Architects and Quadrangle Architects

situation:

The Tedco Corus Building, now known as Corus Quay, is a public private partnership and the first piece in Toronto’s latest waterfront redevelopment plans. It will house Corus Entertainment’s flagship radio and TV studios and post-production facilities.

assessment:

Aercoustics was the acoustic, noise and vibration control consultant for both the base building and tenant architectural teams. We contributed designs and recommendations for the sound isolation, acoustic criteria, noise and vibration controls. Specific challenges were the design of the TV studios, the open office area and the exterior curtain wall.

The TV studios required a low background sound level, high levels of sound isolation and acoustic treatment. Two of the studios were located at the perimeter, with large glass doors to the outside. The third studio is located in the public atrium and has a lounge space located above it for meetings and events. We also assisted in designing the technical post-production spaces,

The large open office area was a concern as well with the challenge of providing adequate acoustic privacy.

solution:

For the technical spaces, Aercoustics designed the TV studios using a room-within-a-room format with floating floors, walls and isolated ceilings. Recommendations and design guidelines were provided for noise controls on the mechanical system to minimize those noise intrusions. We also specified the acoustic performance of the curtain wall system and the large glass doors to minimize noise intrusions from the exterior into the TV studios.

Aercoustics created a 3D computer model of the atrium space, which enabled us to make recommendations for the acoustics in the atrium as Corus wants to use this area for informal gatherings and events.

For the open office acoustics, we specified a background sound level for the mechanical system. We also recommended acoustic treatment of the ceiling to minimize the noise propagation. For acoustic privacy we recommended appropriate partition heights and considered sound masking systems.

results:

This is a complex, on-going project drawing on numerous lines of expertise and early developments are encouraging.