We hope that 2008 sees your business prosper in every way and that we can continue to play a role in that. Your success is ours.

Here at IAC, we’ve started the year in top gear with our Sound and Vibration Test Rooms being visited by royalty and IAC Nordic clinching a large contract for an Anechoic Chamber for Volvo. As the demand for quieter cars grows, so does automotive manufacturers’ demand for the best engine test facilities. We strive to be the best in all the sectors we serve but recognition by the world’s top brands is always very encouraging.

We hope these brief stories give you a flavour of the breadth in our company and the excellence we strive for. We appreciate your business. Thank you.
Best regards

Brian Quarendon
Group President and CEO

ROYAL OPENING OF IAC FACILITY AT EUROPE’S LEADING VIBRATION RESEARCH CENTRE

HRH the Earl of Wessex officially opened IAC-built state-of-the art facilities for the world famous Institute of Vibration and Sound Research (ISVR) in Southampton last month.

The ISVR at the University of Southampton is Europe’s leading centre for research, teaching and consultancy in sound and vibration.

The new £6 million purpose-built facility has been constructed on the University’s Highfield Campus. Part of the facility houses the South of England Cochlear Implant Centre – with an IAC Audiometric Suite, consisting of three large independent Test Rooms. Designed working alongside the ISVR’s preferred design team and built by IAC, this new facility will be used to further the ISVR developments in the field of Cochlear Implants.

‘This excellent new building provides specialist clinical facilities and new laboratories for ISVR’s new centre and will aid research related to human responses to sound and vibration, areas in which the University has an excellent global reputation,’ comments ISVR Director, Professor Steve Elliott.

The facilities provide complete clinical and staff accommodation, where children and adults with severe to profound hearing loss receive life-changing technology allowing them to communicate via speaking and listening.

Contact Jason Saunders jasons@iacl.co.uk for further information on this project and IAC’s complete range of Audiology suites, booths and rooms telephone: 01962 873027

IAC SEMI-ANECHOIC TEST CHAMBER FOR VOLVO, SWEDEN

Swedish car manufacturer Volvo has awarded IAC a substantial contract to supply and install the acoustic equipment for their new Vehicle Semi-Anechoic Chamber located in Gothenburg.

The chamber’s enormous interior measures 19m x 13m and 5.3m high and has a 60Hz cut-off. The chamber will be lined with 700 Metadyne LF anechoic wedges – patented IAC technology. These metal-faced wedges give proven guaranteed acoustic performance and have superior fire and impact resistance. They are easy to clean to keep their ‘as new’ appearance and can be painted with corporate colours where requested. This new chamber for Volvo, like all IAC facilities, is a bright, healthy and safe environment for test personnel

Other equipment to be supplied includes a large vehicle access door and a personnel door both with internal wedge basket doors, a forced air cooling duct, four special corner vents, a large ceiling anechoic air outlet duct and the chamber lighting system. 

The manufacture of all equipment will be carried out at our Winchester production facility ready for installation and commissioning in Gothenburg by the end June 2008.

 “We have had links with Volvo now for many years and last year we were awarded an engineering design contract,” says Geoff Howse, IAC’s UK Chief Engineer.  “This was to specify the scope of the anechoic chamber and to help their project team with all of the difficult acoustic interfaces such as the foundations, the chamber concrete shell, the ventilation systems and the dynamometer.“

Philip White is Key Account Manager with IAC Nordic. “A number of factors helped us to secure this important contract: the fact that we provided extensive consulting input on all significant sound, vibration and ventilation aspects of the new facility, our longstanding relationship and the smaller contracts we’ve had from them before.”

For more information on Anechoic Test Chambers contact Graham Dale, Global Test Facilities Manager on grahamd@iacl.co.uk 01962 873024.

IAC STOPSON ITALY SUPPLIES €3M ENCLOSURES ORDER FOR GE

General Electric Oil & Gas Division, formerly trading as Nuovo Pignone, placed an order in April last year with IAC Stopson Italy worth around €3M for the supply of three off-base, noise insulated enclosures.

These enclosures are for the GT25 gas turbine and compressor package which GE is installing at a gas plant in Korba, 80kms south east of Tunis in Tunisia. The facility is dedicated to the compression of gas for transport via the underwater pipeline that crosses the Mediterranean to southern Europe.

Manufacturing of the frames and fire-rated panels was undertaken in China at our manufacturing partner’s facility located close to Shenzen between June and October. Shipment from China to Tunis was a major operation. A total of 63 forty-foot containers made the 30-day journey via the Suez Canal and Malta. Strong support was provided by IAC companies to the local Chinese team throughout the manufacturing process.

Components such as the bridge crane, fire fighting system and ventilation have all been procured from European-based suppliers.

Olivier Darreius, IAC Boet Stopson European Operations Director said: “IAC Stopson Italy clinched this high value order from GE after a very tough bid process lasting several months. The active support of our French Enclosure business unit to them throughout the engineering and selection process was a key factor in their success. We anticipate that this project will be the first of several, given the expected growth of the gas market worldwide.” Installation is currently underway on site and due to be completed by next summer.

The image shows an adjoining part of the same plant.

For more information on Enclosures for the UK market please contact Gordon David in our Colchester office on 01206 865987 gordond@iacl.co.uk

£MULTI-MILLION MERSEYSIDE NEW-BUILD HOSPITAL RECEIVES IAC AUDIOLOGY SUITE

Patients of St Helen’s and Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust in Merseyside are now enjoying the benefits of four new audiology test rooms designed and built by IAC - part of the £338M PFI rebuild of two 150-year-old  hospitals.

This is the biggest single investment in healthcare the Merseyside community has ever received and the St Helen’s hospital will be fully completed this year.

The new suite for the audiology department will be treating patients from the whole of Cheshire, Merseyside, North Wales and the Isle of Man.

The suite is built using IAC’s patented modular construction system, Moduline. Using 100mm acoustic panels, floating floor and integral acoustic doors and windows, the rooms are demountable should they require relocating at any time.

The suite consists of two 3.5m-square rooms and two smaller rooms. Tony Argyrou, IAC Project Manager, said:  “We incorporated additional features to the suite as requested by the site contractors Taylor Woodrow: all rooms needed to be fire-rated and we were asked to fit special veneers to the exterior doors to fit with the look and feel of the neighbouring environments. As a company we strive to more than exceed our customers’ expectations so are more than pleased to comply with such requests.”

With full air conditioning, IAC supplied the rooms with full duct work ready for connection by other trades.

For more information contact Tony Argyrou on tonya@iacl.co.uk or 01926 873036

IAC STOPSON SUPPLIES ANOTHER TOP SPANISH AIRPORT WITH JET BLAST BARRIERS

Coruna airport in Spain is to have a jet blast barrier designed, manufactured and installed by IAC’s Spanish subsidiary, IAC Stopson.

This contract follows hot on the heels of others for Valencia, Zaragoza, Barcelona, Madrid and Malaga airports totalling over 1.5M Euros over the past few years. IAC Stopson has an excellent track record in the Spanish barriers market and IAC barriers undergo stringent testing at INTA – one of Spain’s most respected aerodynamics laboratories and all come supplied with full acoustic performance data.

This latest blast barrier will be 126 metres long and  4.7 metres high. It will protect the airport service area from jet blast. Manufactured from 3-mm galvanised steel sheet, the barrier will be painted in standard aeronautical colours of snow white and red and in line will be fitted with the corresponding warning lights. It will carry 160 red LEDs and be able to withstand temperatures of -40ºC to +55ºC. IAC barriers all match the norms for airport blast barriers as laid down by the ICAO, the International Civil Aviation Organisation. (Image shows the IAC barrier at Zaragoza airport.)

Amadeo Garcés is IAC Stopson’s Project Manager: "Over the past few years we have really built up the barriers business based on a long list of satisfied customers.”

Coruna airport serves the pilgrimage City of Santiago de Compostela that receives around 2m passengers a year.

For further information about Jet Blast Barriers in the UK please contact Gordon Edwards, General Manager, IAC Aviation on gordone@iacl.co.uk 01962 873044

FLORIDA SUPERSTORE KEEPS QUIET FOR NEIGHBOURS

IAC America recently completed a Noishield® Cladding Panel project for a new ‘SuperTarget®’ superstore in Coral Springs, Florida.

Target Inc. operates approximately 1,500 stores in 47 states selling ‘high-quality, stylishly designed items plus all the essentials for your life’. Of these, 175 are SuperTarget® stores, with a larger footprint and wider product ranges.

A critical condition of Target obtaining their occupation certificate was the protection of the affluent Coral Springs residents from both the delivery traffic noise at the store’s Loading Dock and from the mechanical equipment noise located in the same area. 

With the help from the IAC America’s Engineering and Design team, after careful consideration and planning, the architect from KKE Architects and General Contractor, Sikon Construction, chose to utilise IAC Noishield® Cladding Panels.

The attractive façade with its custom-matched colour provided superior acoustic performance while meeting the desired aesthetics. The quick manufacture and fast, easy installation by authorised IAC installers supported a timely completion of the construction and met the store’s grand opening date.

IAC Noishield® Cladding Panels are manufactured from a 20 gauge perforated skin.  The Noishield Cladding Panels are roll-formed to form 64mm-thick acoustical panels, with NRC 1.05.  The panels are available in galvanised steel or aluminium materials and can be powder coated in more than 100 colours, with smooth or textured finishes, to satisfy a variety of architectural applications.

IAC Noishield® Cladding Panels are engineered to ensure structural and acoustical integrity and economical installation. The Lightweight panels stacked between pre-engineered ‘Z’ and ‘Hat’ channels achieved desired coverage for an existing wall height. They can be installed with horizontal or vertical reveals to satisfy aesthetic and architectural considerations.

For further information on Noishield® Cladding Panels contact Scott Simmons on scotts@iacl.co.uk 01962 873016

IAC GMBH CALMS THE TIGER’S ROAR

IAC GmbH has supplied three sets of louvres especially designed and manufactured to attenuate noise of three Tiger locomotives.

Volker Horschens is IAC GmbH General Manager: “In order to develop a solution to the noise problem we worked with engineers and acousticians at the technical university of Berlin. Whilst this was not a large contract we are now working with the University to promote the solution to other railways across Europe.”

For more information on this project contact Volker on vh@iac-gmbh.de  +49 (0)2163-99910

SKANSKA CHOOSES IAC FOR ROYAL LONDON HOSPITAL PROJECT

The UK construction firm Skanska has awarded IAC the contract to supply and install 30 large Ventilation Plenums for The Royal London Hospital Project. The award came after a highly competitive bidding process.

The Plenums are required to protect the local community from plant room noise from the AHU fans and units. They will be constructed from 3,500 100mm-thick Noishield Panels up to 4.5m high. These will provide an airtight sound reducing structure between the building’s external ventilation louvres and the Air Handling Unit plant rooms and include 80 IAC Noishield Plenum Doors matching the spec of the acoustic panels.

Manufacturing of the equipment will take place at our Winchester production facilities and the schedule for installation is mid-2008 through to mid-2009.

Sarah Wills is project manager for Skanska. “IAC gave a good response to the tender and their price is right. They’ve been very proactive so far so this augurs well for the successful conclusion of the project.”

Mike Jackson is IAC’s Sales Manager and has worked closely with Acoustic Consultants Cole Jarman for the past 3 years on several other acoustic projects. “We advised them on the specification and budget costs for the Barts and The London Project.  We’ve had a good relationship with Cole Jarman over the years so they recommended us to Skanska as having the necessary products, experience and capability for the project.”

For more information on Ventilation Plenums contact Mike Jackson on mikej@iacl.co.uk 01962 873011

Contact Us

If you have any comments or suggestions concerning either this newsletter or our website, please contact Susan Ramsden on +44 (0)1962 873050 or, to send her an e-mail, click here. If you wish to unsubscribe from this newsletter please click here