036 ACOUSTICS

BUILDING ON SOLID (RUBBER)

FOOTINGS
Tim Beresford. Located above a busy underground railway, the new East Buildings – Britomart complex in
Auckland, New Zealand, has an extraordinary noise-minimisation feature: full-building rubber
pads. TIM BERESFORD from Norman Disney & Young explains the acoustic merits of the
system.

D
ue to the ever-increasing demand for premium
office space, designers and engineers have
progressively found themselves working on
developments where individual site locations present design
challenges that require ‘non-standard’ solutions. Such was
the case with the East Buildings, Britomart, Auckland, where
a group of three medium-rise buildings totalling 40,000
square metres GFA (gross floor area) of A-grade office space is
nearing completion above Auckland’s underground Britomart
train station and tunnel.
The key challenge with this site was to address vibra-
tion from rail movements in the tunnel below, which had the
potential to produce unacceptably high noise levels, if left
untreated, for occupants within the building.
As the lead acoustic consultant for this project, Norman
Disney & Young (NDY) was required to fi nd a solution
that would reduce such vibration on a large scale – across all
floors of all three of the East Buildings. Several options were
considered, but ultimately it was decided the best solution
was to vibro-acoustically isolate the buildings. The concept
behind this solution is simple: isolate the building with rubber
pads, as is done for many vibration problems. But how does
one achieve this for a whole group of buildings, specifi-
cally a group of this size? Add in the fact that the buildings
are located in a seismically active area, requiring them to be
seismically restrained, and you have a real design problem on
your hands.
ASSESS THE PROBLEM
The fi rst stage in the design process was to assess the extent of
the vibro-acoustic problem. A detailed ‘vibration map’ of the
site was created to identify any hot spots. Holes were exca-
vated through the carpark asphalt topping, which was located
above the rail tunnel, to expose the tunnel ‘lid’ onto which
the East Buildings’ foundations would sit. Accelerometers
were attached and rail movements in and out of the tunnel
were tracked. Analysis and predictions of the vibration spread
throughout the proposed building indicated a widespread
problem of audible low-frequency noise when particular rail
movements occurred.
The design of the isolation bearings or ‘pads’ required
careful consideration. It was important to ensure loading of
the pads was not too great and that bulk shear strain within
the pad was kept within acceptable limits. This was vital to

right: Sophisticated
vibro-acoustic
engineering solutions
have been designed to
minimise underground
railway noise and
provide an amenable
interior environment for
office staff. Drawing
courtesy Johnson Pilton
Wallker.

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 ensure the life of the pad matched or exceeded the life of
Building-wide rubber pads at the new East
the building. As one can imagine, it would be no trivial task Buildings – Britomart complex in Auckland,
replacing a failed pad on an already completed building. New Zealand, will help reduce noise from an
underground railway.
Photo courtesy Stephen Perry.
PAD DEVELOPMENT
Development of the pad was a complex procedure involving a
collaborative effort between NDY and the bearing manufac-
turer, combining knowledge, experience and a good deal of
trial and error. NDY worked closely with Trelleborg, trialling
different combinations of rubber compounds and metal shims
to make up the fi nal design. Trelleborg had test facilities that
allowed the pads to be tested under simulated loads of up to
150 percent of the predicted working load.
The testing of the pads was considered an essential part of
the process; however, it also presented its own limitations –
the test rig could not test individual pads that would be large
enough to safely support the weight of the building at each
of its foundation points. So NDY worked with the structural
engineer to develop a distributed bearing pattern for each
foundation so the load could be distributed among up to four
smaller pads. This meant each individual pad could be tested,
and it was known that the group of pads could collectively bear
the weight of these buildings’ foundations.
Another consideration was the need to seismically restrain
the entire building due to its location in the seismically active
Auckland region. During the developed design stage, different
restraint options were investigated, including high-tech shock
absorbers manufactured in the US. With the high price tag

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 038 ACOUSTICS

COMPARISON OF OFFICE INTERNAL NOISE LEVELS WITH AND WITHOUT VIBRO-ACOUSTIC ISOLATION

100

90
Prediction without
Vibro-acoustic Isolation
80 Measurement with
Sound Pressure Level (dB re 20 Micropascals)

Vibro-acoustic Isolation
70

60

PNC 60
50

PNC 50
40

PNC 40
30

PNC 30
20

PNC 20
10

0
Total dB(A) 31.5 63 125 250 500 1k 2k 4k 8k
Level

Frequency (Hz)

The concept behind this solution is simple: TARGETS MET

isolate the building with rubber pads, as
is done for many vibration problems. But
how does one achieve this for a whole
group of buildings, specifically a group of
this size?
The developer, Cooper and Company, was delighted with the
outcome of the vibro-acoustic isolation. On-floor noise levels
due to rail movements are well below the project threshold
throughout the East Buildings, fulfi lling the requirement for
the design and delivery of an A-grade office environment on
this challenging site. FM

Tim Beresford is an acoustic engineer who has worked with Norman

associated with these and many of the other available options,
it was decided that bespoke snubbers would be designed and
incorporated into the structural steelwork at the foundations.
MEASURING VIBRATION
The East Buildings are very near to completion at the time of
writing. In August, 2009, NDY completed vibration measure-
ments in the worst-case locations of the partially completed
buildings to determine the effectiveness of the isolation pads.
The resulting graph (see above) indicates the sound levels
present within office areas of the building with and without
vibro-acoustic isolation, based on predictions from our initial
site survey (no isolation) and from measurements within
the partially completed building (with isolation). The noise
criterion for this office space is for sound pressure levels to be
less than or equal to the PNC 40 curve. As can be seen noise
levels without isolation would have been in excess of PNC 55.
With vibro-acoustic isolation, internal noise levels have been
decreased to below PNC 25.
Disney & Young for the past five years, following his graduation from the
University of Auckland as a mechanical engineer. During this time he
has been involved in a wide range of significant acoustic and vibration
designs throughout New Zealand, including work in the fields of build-
ing services for commercial and residential applications, aircraft noise
modelling and spatial acoustic design. He enjoys music, playing piano
and electric guitar, and has been actively involved in several bands. He
sees music as the link between his recreation and profession and for this
reason has a keen interest in good acoustics for performance spaces.
Recently he accepted the opportunity to relocate to Australia to manage
the acoustic section at NDY Melbourne.
More information
Cooper and Company
www.cooperandcompany.org
Norman Disney & Young
www.ndy.com
Trelleborg Group
www.trelleborg.com

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