Dorst
Sound absorbing Akotherm panels improve care home PIM Senior’s communal space
Dorst, a small town in the centre of the Netherlands, has been home to a small-scale care home named PIM Senior since 2021. The home offers space to 56 seniors that suffer from memory loss. Residents are invited be and show their true selves whilst their individual capabilities and challenges are taken into account. The centre’s communal space soon appeared to have bad acoustics due to its interior and tricky dimensions. This led to an unfavourable situation as activities and conversations between the carers and the residents were affected. And so, it was time for Merford to offer advice and supply sound absorbing Akotherm panels that perfectly fit the space.
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PIM Senior -
Residential buildings, Education and healthcare -
2021
Hard materials
PIM Senior offers the residents many activities that allow them to both relax and be challenged. A large part of those activities, however, is organised in the communal space. Soon after the building was transformed into PIM Senior’s care home, the acoustics in the communal space turned out to be a nuisance. The hard materials used in the space, such as the floors, walls and the high ceilings allowed for an extensive reverberation time. This impaired the activities and conversations between the residents and the carers. Therefore, the care foundation soon reached out to Merford, and together we set off on a quest for a solution.
Ton van der Veer (PIM Senior): 'The panels do exactly what they should do: they absorb sound.'
Sound absorbing Akotherm GG panels
Merford advised PIM Senior to install Akotherm GG: a polyester wool panel that has a smooth surface layer and a high sound-absorbency value. PIM Senior asked for the panels to be fully incorporated into the space. A total of 120 white panels have been placed onto the slanted ceiling between the rafters in grids of five by five. Both the residents and the carers are extremely happy with the results. PIM Senior’s Ton van der Veer says: ‘The panels do exactly what they should do: they absorb sound.’ And as far as aesthetics go, we will let the images do the talking.