Building Project: New modern church design

We were proud to be part of a multi-disciplinary team that brought to life a striking contemporary place of worship in south London.

The Church of Pentecost centre in Peckham combines large areas of modern glazing and white brickwork with a traditional colonnade wrapping around the building, inspired by traditional church cloisters. 

Syntegra successfully bid for the acoustic consultancy role on the project as the development team pulled together its proposal for the planning authority.

The most challenging part of the assessment was a detailed noise breakout assessment of the amplified music and speech that takes place during weekly worship events at Pentecostal Churches. This was unusually required at the planning stage, rather than the detailed stage, due to the high noise levels expected to be produced internally and the close proximity of residential premises to the site.

Working closely with the project Architects, Turner Jackson + Day Associates, Syntegra assessed the site for noise impacts for 2 different iterations of the scheme providing advice with respect to noise mitigation measures and noise management techniques and produced noise impact assessments detailing proposed mitigation measures. Syntegra also carried out a full internal sound insulation assessment for the scheme during the detailed design stage to ensure all parts of the building could be used as intended, and carried out a detailed plant noise assessment to ensure compliance with Local Authority requirements.

Syntegra’s Director of Acoustics, David Yates, said: ‘This was a bold design and early engagement with us as acoustic consultants really paid off for this scheme; allowing such a noisy use internally with a modern glazed façade close to existing residential buildings. Careful attention to detail during the plant noise assessment even allowed the scheme to incorporate an element of natural ventilation, which was greatly desired by the project team.

‘It has been a pleasure to be involved with this scheme for a number of years now through various iterations of the design and I look forward to seeing the completed building when it finally comes to fruition.’