Making Good Acoustics “Happen” with Paul Marks

30 May Making Good Acoustics “Happen” with Paul Marks

Recently, Paul Marks, a Principal at BKL, sat down for a chat with James from the Site Visit Podcast. They talked about acoustics, of course, and how BKL can transform spaces into havens of productivity and tranquility.

The following is a lightly edited excerpt of the podcast episode, which is titled “Harmonizing Life and Space: The Invisible Art of Sound with Paul Marks.” It’s available now on your favourite podcast app.

BKL

We’re a company that was formed in the Lower Mainland in 1966, so 50 or whatever years ago. We came from a relatively small, humble beginning. The business evolved from the 70s and 80s into something a little more scientific and a little bit more robust in terms of its delivery. 

The easiest way to describe our work is we have a team that works with noise and sound outside of buildings and a team that works with noise and sound inside buildings. The folks outside tend to deal with big infrastructure.

If you’ve been to a hospital, one of the newer hospitals in the Lower Mainland, there’s a good chance we worked on it. If you’ve been to one of several schools or university buildings, maybe you’ve been to the RCMP detachment, one of the new ones. Yeah, you probably would have been in a BKL building.

Good Acoustics Within Buildings

Acoustics does have the element of being a luxury item, but I think people begin to recognize that good sound isolation isn’t. We wanna make sure that good acoustics just happen and people don’t have to necessarily appreciate it. They just accept that it’s part of their day-to-day life.

We need to have speech intelligibility within spaces. If you’ve got, you know, hard reflective surfaces sometimes it’s difficult for people to understand what’s being said. Maybe if English isn’t your first language. Maybe if you’ve got a hearing impairment, you need to have good acoustical conditions.

Those are sensors on the sides of our heads. We need to be able to hear people communicate with other people, we need to be able to work and concentrate. So sound hits you every day. It affects you everywhere you go, not just in the broadcast studio. As soon as you walk out onto the street, there’ll be noise.

Architectural Acoustics

On many projects, we have the privilege of being part of the architectural design phase. We call it architectural acoustics and so we’re dealing with the design of buildings, design of spaces, conditioning, sound within buildings, and also the noise that escapes from buildings.

Acoustics in Hospitals

We make sure that the acoustical conditions are appropriate for the uses within that building. Our main projects are predominantly around health care. Hospitals are a great example of how acoustics can go wrong. You need to have sound isolation between spaces. You need to speak to health care professionals. You want to tell them what you’re experiencing and you don’t want to have the fear that someone else can hear what you’re saying.

Their work takes a lot of concentration. They need to think about what they’re doing. They need to make sure that they’re not making mistakes.

Those are the types of projects that we’re working on, pretty much any space that needs sound isolation or speech intelligibility, privacy, or low background noise conditions.

Consider Acoustics Early

Don’t be afraid of coming to acoustical consultants and talking to them about your project early on. At BKL, we do feel that you’ll benefit from our knowledge and expertise. We’ve got a great set of staff, we’re keen to make sure that you get the right consultant for your needs. We all have different skill sets, and speak different languages. We have different abilities and we can make sure that the person we provide to you suits your requirements.

To hear Paul and James’s entire conversation, check out the Site Visit Podcast, Episode 125. They discuss the primal role that acoustics have in our lives and Paul’s journey from the UK to Canada.

If you want to learn more about BKL and our services, get in touch with our team. We can discuss your architectural or environmental project, and help make good acoustics happen.