Project Focus

The Hepworth Wakefield

David Chipperfield Architects designed The Hepworth Wakefield gallery, named after the Yorkshire born sculptor, Barbara Hepworth. Conceived as a celebration of Yorkshire's artistic past, the building has ten stunning galleries to showcase contemporary art.

Comprised of numerous reflective surfaces, the gallery posed a number of acoustic challenges, one of which was in the café area. To maintain the peaceful, contemplative atmosphere, the architects specified StoSilent Panel Alu, a seamless, suspended acoustic ceiling. StoSilent Panel Alu is specifically designed to cope with high humidity environments and minimises risks of staining in such conditions. The beautiful, monolithic ceiling promotes a tranquil environment, in keeping with the purpose of the building.

Nick Hill, of David Chipperfield, explains: "The acoustic system is installed in a lively café space with many hard surfaces where it was critical to achieve the level of sound absorption that the Sto system offers.

"The StoSilent Panel Alu system was specified because we required a smooth, seamless finish for the ceiling. We did not want the standard perforated systems. These would be more difficult to coordinate with the irregular shape of the room. Equally, it was important for us that the ceiling treatment appeared consistent with ceilings elsewhere in the building."

The StoSilent Panel Alu suspended ceiling system is made from 15mm thick rigid acoustic board. Manufactured from 96% recycled glass granulate, the boards are finished with the fibre-free, acoustically transparent coating, StoSilent Superfine. The chosen acoustic solution provides excellent acoustic properties of 0.49 NRC – 0.45 αw (250-2000 Hz).

The Hepworth Wakefield is already a landmark building with a facade constructed of pigmented concrete. The doors opened to the public in May 2011 for the display of artworks by Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore.