Project data
Client: Whitbread
Architect: Axiom Architects
Main Contractor: RG Carter
Products: Knauf Brio
Project details
Premier Inn’s “Good Night Guarantee” is now reinforced by the outstanding sound insulation provided by the innovative Brio system of easily installed dry floor screed boards.
Premier Inn, the UK’s biggest budget hotel chain, offers all guests the unique ’Good Night Guarantee’ – which means guests who are not 100% satisfied with their stay get a full refund – so it is crucial there are no complaints about noise.
Tests on the extension to its hotel at Norwich Showground demonstrate that the Knauf Brio 23WF board performed so well that it will be used for all new floors within the chain. Floors installed using the board easily exceeded the levels set by Part E of the Building Regulations - where the regulations set a standard of 45dB for airborne sound it achieved 51dB, while for impact sound it achieved 38dB, well below the statutory 62dB standard.
The slim profile of the board – just 33mm thick – was also a great advantage in building the 22-bed extension, according to Richard Hollis, design manager for the Axiom Architects.
“Our original option was 81mm thick and this would have caused problems in matching the floor levels of the original building and maintaining the same floor-to-ceiling heights but using the Knauf Brio system avoided this issue,” he says. The main contractors, RG Carter, also found the product far simpler and quicker to install than traditional methods.
“This contract went very well and very quickly because this solid dry screed board is so easy to use and install. It certainly beats using wet screed
in these types of project because there is no drying time so following trades aren’t affected – they can just get on with their jobs,” says RG Carter’s Contracts Manager, Bhasker Patel.
There are four Knauf Brio boards: Brio 18 (standard 18mm thick), Brio 23 (recommended for underfloor heating applications), Brio 18WF and Brio 23WF. The Knauf Brio WF (wood fibre) products are specifically developed to be an effective floor treatment as part of an acoustic separating floor with no need for timber battens.
Over timber, the footfall insulation improvement with this specification is up to 13dB, with up to 19dB over concrete. When laid on a level substrate, Brio WF gives up to 9dB over timber and up to 17dB over concrete.
Knauf Brio is much lighter than traditional wet screeds, significantly reducing loads and costly structural requirements in multi-storey buildings, and is also ideal for refurbishments because of its low installation thickness of as little as 18mm. Brio 23 is ideal over underfloor heating systems as it has low thermal resistance which results in a
much more responsive heating system, decreasing running costs and CO2 emissions.