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Case Study

RCMP “E” Division Headquarters

About This Project

Providing advice and testing on all acoustics-related requirements, BKL joined the Green Timbers Accommodation Partners team for the RCMP “E” Division Headquarters Relocation Project, a $966 million public-private partnership (P3) project targeting LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold certification. The project involved designing and constructing a new 76,162 square-metre headquarters facility for over 2,700 personnel, with three new buildings including a seven-storey office building, a post-disaster services building and a single-storey office and warehouse building.

Highlights:

  • comprehensively reviewed sound isolation requirements and provided input for partition construction, door and seal selection, and penetration details for mechanical and electrical services, etc., including specifying more than 200 acoustically rated doors;
  • calculated speech privacy levels and made recommendations for masking noise levels, backed up by testing in similar existing facilities;
  • calculated reverberation time in the main lobby and other spaces and recommended sound absorbing treatment to control reverberation;
  • recommended vibration isolation of mechanical equipment to prevent structure-borne noise transmission and limit the vibration transmitted to the building structure;
  • analyzed sound transmission through the HVAC system and recommended silencers and lined ductwork to control the airborne noise;
  • reviewed the environmental noise impact to the buildings from the chiller plant and emergency generators and recommended upgrades to improve the sound isolation of the building envelope;
  • recommended sound isolating enclosures to mitigate noise from stand-alone emergency generators, and, in the case of indoor generators, recommended air discharge and intake silencers and exhaust mufflers;
  • conducted extensive mock-up testing to confirm performance;
  • attended design meetings, reviewed 100+ shop drawings, inspected the implementation of our recommendations on site and presented to large client user groups during the pursuit and design stages of the project; and
  • carried out extensive commissioning testing of noise, vibration, reverberation and sound isolation to confirm compliance with the project criteria.

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).

  • Henning Schlechtriem
    Henning Schlechtriem

    M.Sc.

    Managing Specialist Acoustical Consultant

    Henning Schlechtriem

    Henning Schlechtriem, M.Sc.

    Managing Specialist Acoustical Consultant

    Henning Schlechtriem, M.Sc., joined BKL in February 2020. He has 8 years of international project experience working as professional acoustical consultant in the design and assessment of residential and non-residential buildings.

    Henning has a Master’s Degree in Acoustics with Environmental Applications and a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering with specialization in building physics and acoustics. His professional expertise focuses on the fields of architectural and environmental acoustics. He is a proficient with software such as Odeon, SoundPLAN, STRUTT, Insul, Rhino+Grasshopper, Max/MSP, and with measurement equipment from Brüel And Kjær, NTi and Norsonic.

    He has worked together with architects, investors, municipalities, as well as structural and mechanical engineers, covering a wide range of projects including office, residential, and mixed-use buildings, hotels, hospitals, schools, and cultural venues. His work has involved the acoustical design and on-site assessment of room acoustics, sound insulation including flanking transmission, environmental noise and noise from building services.

    Henning has given presentations to architects and technical planners to share his knowledge about the acoustical design of masonry, concrete and lightweight constructions, timber-concrete hybrid buildings and general acoustical challenges during the design of buildings.

    He is a member of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Akustik, the German Association of Acoustics (DEGA) and is an Approved Assessor for Acoustics and Building Physics at the Chamber of Engineers in NRW and Hessen (Germany).

  • Headshot of Andrew Williamson
    Andrew Williamson

    P.Eng., B.S.M.E.

    Specialist Acoustical Consultant

    Headshot of Andrew Williamson

    Andrew Williamson, P.Eng., B.S.M.E.

    Specialist Acoustical Consultant

    A graduate of the University of Victoria, Andrew Williamson holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and has practiced as an acoustical consultant in BC for over two decades. He joined BKL in 2023.

    During his career, Andrew has worked on numerous projects involving environmental noise assessments, building noise and vibration control, and architectural acoustics. As a project manager, Andrew has led acoustics teams on a variety of projects across sectors including cultural and recreation, education and research, health care, industrial, commercial, and residential.

    Andrew has attended public meetings, open houses, and government-sponsored working groups to present and discuss technical information with the public, municipal councils, and members of the government and other organizations. In addition, Andrew has acted as an expert witness in BC Supreme Court and participated in a joint review panel hearing for the environmental assessment of a major infrastructure project.

    Andrew is a Professional Engineer registered with Engineers and Geoscientists BC.