Improving the pedestrian environment with Transport for London

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Photos: Edmund Sumner

Photos: Edmund Sumner

 

Both public artwork and acoustic shield, an innovative noise barrier has just been revealed on a busy stretch of the A12 in Bromley-by-Bow, east London.

The installation marks the first UK use of a new type of acoustic panel, and aims to reduce perceived noise pollution. Beep Studio’s striking sculptural design turns a civil engineering project into a memorable public artwork. The Studio led the design and construction team, alongside Expedition Engineering, Cake Industries, Echo Barrier, and Power & Line. Project delivery was managed by housing association Poplar HARCA, with funding from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and Transport for London.

Drawing inspiration from the nearby waterways, the barrier’s geometry is one of folded surfaces and flowing lines. This sinuous form is further enhanced by the reflective material, which picks up fluctuations in light over the course of the day and accentuates the relatively low relief of the sculpture. Surface anodising provides soft and subtle colour, whilst the simple folds in each sheet of metal add structural stiffness, sculptural texture, and visual interest. The barrier is almost thirty metres in length, and reaches a peak height of three metres in front of Jefferson Plaza, where the acoustic effect has the greatest impact and is most needed. Our hope for the installation is that it can enhance resident and commuter experience both acoustically and physically.

This innovative barrier should serve as a comfort to residents passing through the area who suffer from excessive noise emanating from the A12. We have listened to residents who have complained about the level of noise pollution and if the scheme is successful it could be rolled out elsewhere in Tower Hamlets
— John Biggs, Mayor of Tower Hamlets

How does it work?
Most acoustic treatments reduce noise by using soft or textured surfaces to absorb vibrations. The ‘Silk Metal’ system used here is intended to work differently: An aluminium sheet perforated with tiny holes less than a millimetre in diameter forms the front face of a closed box. As sound waves hit the sheet it starts to vibrate, forcing air trapped in the box through the perforations: the resulting friction slows the passage of air, which in turn reduces the vibration of the sheet, and echoing and reverberating sound. The barrier is formed from over 60 of these sealed cassettes, all of which absorb noise generated by the road through friction, ultimately dissipating this sound energy as heat. Each cassette in the assembly is linked together into larger groups, which in turn are mounted to a carefully articulated concrete footing. These footings require no permanent fix to the highway and can be removed through a simple crane lift. This is the first external use of this kind of acoustic baffle in the UK, and brings this innovation to the public realm to enhance the area for people walking and cycling in the area.

Background
Beep Studio won the noise barrier commission through competitive tender in 2016. The installation is the first public UK test of the ‘Silk Metal’ product, with noise levels, pollution levels and public perceptions being monitored by the University of East London. Should the project prove successful a larger product roll out is possible, subject to further testing.

Making the Barrier
63 uniquely folded aluminium cassettes were fabricated to form the backbone of the barrier. A parametrically defined computer model was created to automatically generate the bespoke cutting patterns needed for each cassette. The simple structural solution designed by Cake Industries enabled the flowing geometry to be generated from laser cut pieces, and careful consideration of adjustability and tolerance allowed these cassettes to be bolted onto concrete footings sitting on the pavement.

The cassettes form a mould that was clad in ‘Silk Metal’ by craft workers at the Cake Industries factory in south-east London. An extensive series of prototyping and testing was used to prove the concept, before the design was signed off for manufacture. The fabrication design and assembly was considered carefully to maximize quality and repeatability, and is now set up for future iterations of the scheme.

The ‘Silk Metal’ material which the barrier is made from means it’s the first of its kind in the UK. Its unique design intends for the installation to also function as a public artwork. Led by Beep Studio, the design and construction team is a collaboration between Expedition Engineering, Cake Studio, Echo Barrier and Power and Line.

Our road network plays a vital role in keeping people and goods moving across the capital, but we know that noise from motor vehicles can have a major impact on people moving through the area.
Our investment in this innovative new noise barrier will make the area a quieter and much more pleasant environment for people walking and cycling along the A12 in Bromley-by-Bow.
— Glynn Barton, Director of Network Management, Transport For London

Consultation and Testing
The A12 sees more than 15 million vehicles moving along it every year, and noise levels on the road have been found to consistently exceed 78 decibels by The University of East London (UEL). This puts the A12 in the most severe category for noise pollution, according to the World Health Organisation and the Department for the Environment. source: Department for the Environment (1994) and WHO (1999) Guidelines for community noise. Geneva: World Health Organization
Surveys and focus groups showed that Local people scored road noise as a ‘highly irritable source of noise’ in Bromley-by-Bow.

You can’t have a conversation with the person next to you, let alone make a phone call because the traffic noise makes it impossible to hear.
I hope the barrier makes it better for anyone who uses this stretch of pavement.
— Fran Jefcoate, a local resident who took part in the consultation.
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Concept visual

Concept visual

 

Project A12 Acoustic Barrier
Location
London E3 3NA

Funding
Poplar HARCA
LB Tower Hamlets
Transport for London
PM
Poplar HARCA
Architect
Beep Studio Ltd
Structure
Expedition Engineering
Manufacture
Cake Industries
Installation:
Power & Line
Monitoring:
University of East London
Suppliers:
Echo Barrier
Photography
Edmund Sumner

Year
2020

 

Funded by:

 
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Collaborators