Knauf AMF’s ceilings will help provide a better learning environment at a new school in the UAE capital

High-end acoustic ceilings from Knauf AMF have been installed in Ajyal Alfalah International School in the heart of Abu Dhabi, UAE.

The school, which aims to provide the highest standard of education in the area, opened its doors to national and expatriate students in September.

Knauf AMF ceilings play an important role in ensuring the school building has a positive influence on learning performance and the well-being of students and teachers.

“Unwanted noise can be a problem in schools,” says Sreejith Panicker, Knauf AMF, director – operations for the Middle East region. “Many schools are built using surfaces which exacerbate the problem by increasing the level of reverberation. Classrooms with high reverberation become too noisy making it difficult for children to hear and understand what is being said. Many other schools in the region are fitted with metal ceilings, which provide less sound absorption and can create a poor acoustic environment for education.”

Thermatex Acoustic ... installed in the corridors and other circulation areas.

Perfect Building Materials worked closely with the design project team and a spokesman explains why Knauf AMF was chosen to help create a calm learning environment.

“Knauf AMF’s high-end acoustic ceiling solutions met the required noise reduction coefficient of .90 with an impressive CAC (ceiling attenuation class) rating of over 28 dB in the classrooms and other learning spaces to help reducing reverberation and improving speech intelligibility,” he says.

“Knauf AMF provided the information and guidance we needed to meet the school’s specification and we were impressed with how cost effective they are in spite of the full system being manufactured in Germany.”

Around 7,500 sq m of Thermatex Antaris ceilings were fitted in all the classrooms and the library. Thermatex Antaris is manufactured from mineral wool and its surface has an elegant smooth acoustic tissue providing the highest rating for sound absorption (Class A as per European classifications).

The combination of outstanding acoustic performance and fire resistance makes Antaris ceilings an ideal choice for schools, according to Panicker.

Ajyal Alfalah is a contemporary school building designed with bright spacious areas.

Thermatex Acoustic ceilings are installed in the school’s corridors and other circulation areas. High insulation properties of 41 dB together with NRC .70 sound absorption help improve the acoustic condition in the neighbouring classrooms because they reduce noise disturbance caused by footsteps and voices in the corridors travelling through the ceiling void. The ceiling tiles are 24 mm thick and made from a specially perforated mineral board and an acoustic fleece surface.The perforations provide excellent sound absorption and the fleece offers a smooth, elegant finish.

Ajyal Alfalah is a contemporary school building designed with bright spacious areas. To help reduce energy consumption and contribute to the open feel, Thermatex Antaris and Acoustic 41 dB ceilings provide high light reflectance of over 85 per cent. The ceilings’ surface reflects light coming in from outside back into the room, reducing the need for artificial light and creating spaces with lots of natural light and low glare.

Knauf Thermatex ceiling tiles are light weight and quick and simple to install. At the school, the ceilings are fitted using an exposed AMF Ventatec grid system. The tiles are demountable making it easy to access the void above for maintenance.

Knauf AMF has an impressive track record of working in the education sector.  Its team offers advice on how one can create the optimum acoustic environment within one’s budget. “Knauf AMF Ceilings manufactures its high-performance acoustic ceiling systems in the largest mineral fibre plant in Europe, which is one of the most modern factories in the world. Knauf AMF continues to innovate and develop new suspended ceiling products including rafts, baffles and acoustic wall panels,”  Panicker concludes.