Education Sector Building Schools for the Future

CI/SfB

Design partner series

71 (22.3) Rr2 Jan 09

Buttershaw Business andEnterprise CollegeMore than 2,500m2 of Cleaneo Apertura

perforated plasterboard from Knauf Drywall

makes school sound even nicer in the

redeveloped Buttershaw Business and

Enterprise College, Bradford. The high

performance ceiling board helps to control

reverberation in the largest spaces of the

college and with its unique seamless and

borderless finish, it looks good too.

Cleaneo Apertura has top billing in a

specification that also sees extensive use of

Knauf Soundshield in metal stud partitions

designed to minimise sound transmission

between learning spaces.

Drywall subcontractors CLM Drylining of

Halifax installed Cleaneo Apertura in the

college’s new assembly hall, main dining

room, gymnasium, music rooms and

dance/fitness studios. CLM Managing

Director John Houston says as many of these

areas had ceilings at least six metres high,

installers used scissor lifts to raise the

Apertura panels to working height and

provide a safe platform for installation. They

used Apertura Circular 12/25 (12mm

perforations at 25mm centres) jointed with

Knauf Uniflott for the tapeless and seamless

finish that makes Cleaneo Apertura an

attractive choice, especially for large or

unusually shaped rooms.

Cleaneo Apertura is a 12.5mm

plasterboard, pre-laminated with a 45g/m2

black or white acoustic fleece. It is available

with circular or square perforations in various

all-over configurations, and in square or

slotted patterns. All boards in the Cleaneo

Apertura range give a Part E Class D sound

absorption performance with a 60mm void

depth; many achieve Class C with an

additional insulating quilt.

In another part of its 52 week contract at

Buttershaw, CLM also installed Knauf metal

stud partitions designed for excellent learning

and teaching conditions by minimising sound

transmission between rooms, in line with the

requirements of Building Bulletin 93.

There are five main types of partition, from

120 to 320mm wide, giving a range of

airborne sound reduction capabilities from

45dB to 61dB. All are based on two layers

of 12.5mm Knauf Soundshield on either side

of Knauf ‘C’ or ‘I’ studs, some with Knauf

Resilient Bar on each side for added acoustic

performance. Knauf Soundshield was also

used for lining external walls and internal

blockwork walls.

Buttershaw BEC is being redeveloped as

part of Bradford’s £400 million slice of the

Building Schools for the Future initiative.

The main contractor is a consortium of

Costain and Ferrovial Agroman. Bradford

is among four pathfinder local authorities

pioneering the BSF programme, and over a

10-year period it plans to refurbish or

rebuild all its secondary schools.

Buttershaw is one of three schools in the

first phase, completed in 2008. Founded as

a comprehensive school for 11 to 18 year-

olds in 1956, it became Buttershaw Upper

School (13-18) in 1974. In 2000 it

reverted to high school status (11-18),

becoming a specialist Business and

Enterprise College in 2006.

With BB93’s focus on the importance of

acoustic excellence to enhance the learning

and teaching experience in schools, Knauf

Drywall has developed a range of simplified

drywall constructions to meet acoustic

requirements, as well as providing adequate

fire and impact resistance, for all the most

common wall types in modern schools. Full

details on Cleaneo Apertura are available in

the Apertura brochure in the same series.

Case study

Project data

• Buttershaw Businessand EnterpriseCollege, Bradford

• 2,500m2 CleaneoApertura

• Seemless jointingsystem

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