We are delighted to announce that Apex Acoustics is now 100 % employee owned. This has been many years in the planning – interrupted by Covid – but we have now taken this significant step on our journey. This won’t affect any of our contracts with our clients – it’s business as usual for the trading company, Apex Acoustics Ltd, aiming for our normal high standards in everything we do. Only now, everyone you deal with at Apex is a co-owner, with the dedication and commitment to success that involves. If you’ve dealt with us before, then hopefully you’ll think that’s what you always received fro ..read more

Well what a night it was to be passing by the House of Commons, and watching MPs vote on the fracking debate. Fortunately our event in the Terrace Pavilion was not disrupted, and we were very excited to catch up with colleagues old and new as well as receive two more accolades. Seena Sajeev picked up the Rising Star Award, following on her picking up the Association of Noise Consultants’ Award for the best IOA Diploma Project the week before. The award was Sponsored by the Association of Noise Consultants & ANV Measurement Systems. It recognises self-motivated individuals who have made imp ..read more

We are excited to share our double win at the Association of Noise Consultants’ Awards 2022. Huge congratulations to our Seena Sajeev for her IOA Diploma Project which scooped the ANC Award for the Best Diploma Project. The subject of her project was on the application of soundscape design for a residential development, CoHUT, which she had co-presented at the international conference Inter-Noise22 in Glasgow, in the summer of 2022. The project was previously awarded a Highly Commended in the 2021 ANC Awards. On behalf of the team, Jack Harvie-Clark receives the Environmental Award from Prof T ..read more

At Inter-Noise 22, Seena Sajeev and Rebecca Romeo Pitone co-presented our soundscape design for the co-housing development known as CoHUT, Newcastle upon Tyne. This is the first time (that we know of!) that a soundscape approach has been ever used for residential design. The outcomes are compared and contrasted with a conventional noise impact assessment. In-situ soundwalks were conducted with the co-housing group during daytime and night-time periods, covering locations with varied sounds and future uses. A virtual soundwalk, including external and internal scenes (with windows open and close ..read more

We are delighted to sponsor the publication of the Passivhaus Trust’s “Thermal bypass risks: a technical review”, written by Mark Siddall. Building better buildings starts with regulatory compliance, but to reach Net Zero targets will require new skills in understanding and application of building physics across the industry. Air tightness is now well established as one essential component of thermal performance that falls under Building Regulations. However, air tightness is just one element of achieving thermal performance in practice. At Apex, we have been working closely with Mark Siddall ..read more

We are looking forward to the international conference hosted by the Institute of Acoustics this year: Inter-noise 2022 to be held in Glasgow. We are presenting papers in three separate sessions, and we have co-organised and will co-chair a fourth session. Soundscape design for a residential development: a case study Our first paper builds on our experience in using a soundscape approach in our consultancy work. In 2021 our work for the CoHUT project won two national accolades, being recognised in the ANC Awards and also the Noise Abatement Society Awards. Here Seena Sajeev and Rebecca Romeo P ..read more

On 15th June 2022, when the new Approved Doc O came into force, the government published some FAQs to assist in the interpretation and understanding of the guidance in AD-O. At Apex, we helped formulate the information for some of these FAQs, working with Susie Diamond and Julie Godefroy, working for the Future Homes Hub. We’ve updated previous blogs about how to respond to the acoustic constraints in Approved Doc O to include these clarifications. Note that these change the level differences that may be assumed as thresholds for using the Simplified Method to 9 dB (Moderate risk areas) and 4 ..read more

The new Approved Documents F, L, and O (Ventilation, Conservation of Fuel and Power, and Overheating) came into force on 15th June 2022, on which date the Dept for Levelling Up, Homes & Communities, DLUHC, published some FAQs to clarify what the new AD-O really means. Our Jack Harvie-Clark helped with the noise aspects of the FAQs, having been the only acoustics advisor on the Approved Doc O working group for DLUHC. Jack also provided the technical advice to the then MHCLG (now DLUHC) on acoustics in the new ventilation guidance in Approved Doc F. Noise has significant implications in the ..read more

Fantastic opportunity to join our employee-owned company that is growing from strength to strength. Despite our recent recruitment, we still need to recruit further. Deadline for applicants is 15th July 2022, but we also welcome applications at any time from interested and motivated people. If this description isn’t you, but you’d like to find out more (without obligation or commitment) about whether this challenging yet supportive company is the right place for you, please do not hesitate to contact Jack Harvie-Clark. Download the flyer. The post Further opportunity for senior or principal co ..read more

Technical details for the survey, data analysis and assessment The new Approved Doc O – Overheating – comes into force for new Building Regulation applications from 15th June 2022. The environmental noise affecting new homes will have a significant impact on how they are designed to mitigate overheating; we estimate that around 30% of existing dwellings would not meet the noise level limits using the simplified method in AD-O. Jack Harvie-Clark was an advisor to MHCLG (now DLUHC) on noise for the new Approved Documents O and F. In this third part of three blogs, he explores: Technical definit ..read more