Joseph & Rosalie Segal & Family Health Centre

About This Project

The Joseph & Rosalie Segal & Family Health Centre (JRSFHC) provides short-term acute care to people with mental health or substance-use challenges. This eight-storey building stands on the campus of Vancouver General Hospital, and is the largest purpose-built mental health and addictions care centre in BC. The facility offers treatment, programs, and skills training for patients, and features 100 private rooms, each with its own washroom. Patients also have access to a secure rooftop garden.

Certified LEED Gold, JRSFHC was designed with the capacity to accommodate two additional floors in the future. Other cutting-edge features include active chilled beam technology in common and therapeutic areas; a high-efficiency, energy-saving HVAC system; and high-performance glazing.

Scope of Services

BKL was hired by design-builder EllisDon and architects Parkin Architects Ltd to consult on the building’s acoustics. Specifically, BKL provided LEED analysis, construction vibration monitoring and assessment, and HVAC and exterior noise control recommendations. In addition, BKL consulted on room acoustics to ensure sufficient speech privacy and sound isolation. After the building was complete, BKL’s acousticians visited the site to test noise levels, investigate potential issues, and recommend solutions where needed. These efforts helped the building achieve a LEED point for acoustics.

LEED Analysis

BKL assessed the proposed design to LEED requirements for sound isolation, speech privacy, and background noise. In a detailed report, BKL shared its findings and provided recommendations for sound masking and noise control for building systems and the emergency generators. Through this process, BKL confirmed that the facility would meet LEED requirements for acoustics.

Continuous Vibration Monitoring

During demolition and construction BKL monitored vibration levels at the site. The team set up interconnected vibration monitors with an alert system that would notify relevant stakeholders if vibration thresholds were exceeded. BKL also provided monthly reports and analysis of significant vibration events.

HVAC and Exterior Noise

BKL assessed the various components of the proposed HVAC system, AHUs, chillers, fans, VAVs, fan coil units, and emergency generators, and compared their expected noise levels to project criteria. In this process, BKL highlighted areas where noise issues could arise and made recommendations to limit air flow velocities or upgrade components, as applicable, to better control HVAC noise.

Commissioning

BKL performed post-construction commissioning measurements to confirm compliance with project requirements and identify deficiencies that need to be addressed.

Interior Background Noise

To test interior background HVAC noise, BKL conducted measurements in 94 rooms, and compared measurements to project criteria for each space. For rooms where higher noise levels were measured, BKL’s acoustician noted the primary issue for each and made room-by-room recommendations to either reduce airflow velocities, check for constrictions, or increase the size of ductwork.

Speech Privacy

The site visit tested and confirmed the effectiveness of the building’s sound masking system. It also revealed that many door seals were not correctly adjusted, which would reduce speech privacy. In a follow-up report, BKL’s acoustician recommended checking and adjusting the door seals.

Exterior Noise

During the visit, the acoustician also tested noise levels at the north end of the building in response to a complaint, yet found that the noise emissions met both the city bylaw and project criteria.

Project Benefits

While BKL’s efforts helped Joseph & Rosalie Segal & Family Health Centre achieve a LEED Gold certification with a point for acoustics, the building’s good acoustical design also provides practical benefits. For instance, high levels of speech privacy and sufficient control of HVAC system noise help create a more comfortable atmosphere for patients, so they can better focus on healing and recovery. This acoustical foundation, along with the building’s state-of-the-art energy-saving features and flexible design, will contribute to the health centre’s long-term success.

Select Awards and Certificates

LEED Gold with a point for acoustics

The People Behind Our Work

Our Technical Leads
Our Team

Paul Marks

M.Sc., MIOA

Vice President, Project Delivery

Paul Marks, M.Sc., MIOA

Vice President, Project Delivery

Paul Marks joined BKL in 2013. He is a full corporate member of the UK Institute of Acoustics and the Canadian Acoustical Association. He has over 20 years’ experience in the measurement, analysis, and assessment of noise, vibration, and acoustical matters and is a former member of the technical advisory team working with the UK government on noise and statutory nuisance issues. During this time, Paul has undertaken major projects within Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

He has experience in a wide range of multi-disciplinary environmental assessment projects including highway, rail, and air transportation infrastructure, mixed-use and brownfield regeneration schemes, renewable energy facilities, and power generation plants.

Paul also has experience in a broad range of building and architectural noise assessment projects including the design of residential, office, educational, and commercial buildings. He has also undertaken acoustical studies for major infrastructure developments including work in the design of appropriate sound-fields for room-spaces in multi-occupancy buildings, including atriums and performance spaces. His work regularly involves close liaison with other acoustical engineers, planning consultants, architects, designers, and a variety of specialist environmental consultants.

Paul is an experienced expert witness within the UK and has a broad experience of planning, licensing and statutory nuisance proceedings as well as being responsible for the successful design of a variety of impact mitigation measures including detailed engineering solutions, lay-out design, and administrative regimes where it has been necessary to closely liaise with clients, designers, and regulatory bodies in order to provide developments in accordance with sustainable principles.
Katrina Scherebnyj

M.A.Sc., P.Eng., MIOA

Technical Director, Building Acoustics

Katrina Scherebnyj, M.A.Sc., P.Eng., MIOA

Technical Director, Building Acoustics

Katrina Scherebnyj started consulting in acoustics in 2007 in England and joined BKL in 2014. Her experience covers architectural acoustics, mechanical noise control, and environmental noise control, and she has worked on major projects in Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

In architectural acoustics, Katrina has worked on a range of new builds and refurbishment projects including schools, universities and higher education facilities, hospitals and healthcare facilities, performance spaces, cinemas, laboratories, office buildings, hotels, and residential buildings. She has provided acoustical design services in relation to sound insulation, room acoustics, and noise control.

Katrina was a co-author of Music Accommodation in Secondary Schools: A Design Guide, published for the UK Department for Education in 2010. Researching the guide, she carried out acoustical measurements in the music departments of several schools and interviewed music teachers and students on the suitability of their music spaces.

Katrina has extensive experience modelling internal sound fields and has carried out numerous models of performance spaces, lecture theatres, and other spaces where acoustical design is critical. She also has experience modelling outdoor noise propagation and has constructed and reviewed noise models for Columbia Containers in Vancouver, BC Children’s and Women’s Hospitals, the Pinnacle (once planned to be London’s tallest building), Crossrail, and other transportation projects.

Katrina is a member of the Canadian Acoustical Association and the Institute of Acoustics (UK).