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Case Study

Pacific Autism Family Centre

Year Completed

2016

Capital Cost

$28M

Total Size

60k sqft.

About This Project

In 2013, BKL was asked to consult on the acoustic design of the Pacific Autism Family Centre, a facility that provides support and learning opportunities for children, youth and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder, as well as their families. The facility includes a treatment centre, clinic and research centre, all under one roof.

Because the facility is located next to the Vancouver International Airport, one critical design challenge was isolating the building envelope from aircraft and road traffic noise. BKL worked closely with the architects, NSDA, to design acoustical features and recommend building materials to sufficiently minimize noise ingress.

Scope of Services

To inform the requirements for sound isolation, BKL carried out 24-hour noise measurements on site. From there, BKL advised on exterior design features (heavy glazed windows, for example) and interior finishes—ceiling, carpet, furnishings—to control reverberant noise and ensure a good acoustical environment. BKL also set sound isolation criteria for internal partitions, and worked with other members of the design team, including mechanical engineers, to limit noise from internal sources such as the HVAC system.

Project Benefits

When the facility opened in November 2016, people noticed its good acoustics. Sergio Cocchia, chair of the Pacific Autism Family Centre Foundation and father of an autistic son describes the building’s quietness in an interview with BC Hydro: “You walk up some floors and it’s amazing how quiet it is. We’re close to the airport and on a bit of flight path, but inside the building you won’t hear any of that.”

Locating a building with critically noise-sensitive spaces in a high-noise environment presents many acoustical challenges. Yet BKL’s early involvement with this project and its attention to detail throughout contributed to the successful design and construction of a facility that will benefit BC children and families for years to come.

What People Are Saying

The Pacific Autism Family Centre was a complex project with external and internal acoustics concerns being among the most critical design problems. BKL worked closely with us to identify both the acoustic issues and the most cost effective solutions to address them. Their attention to detail, technical knowledge and sensitivity to the budget constraints enabled us to successfully meet the project targets.

— Larry Adams, NSDA Architects

The People Behind Our Work

Our Technical Leads

  • Paul Marks
    Paul Marks

    M.Sc., MIOA

    Vice President, Project Delivery

    Paul Marks

    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
    Katrina Scherebnyj

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

    Technical Director, Building Acoustics

    Katrina Scherebnyj

    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).