Project Profile: Floating Concrete Floor
Project: Pier West
Client: Bosa Development
Location: New Westminster, BC
Tenants: Residential
Acoustic Concern: Transformer Noise
Description:
Currently under construction, the Pier West condo development is located by Westminster Pier Park and consists of two residential towers, one of which will be the tallest building on Metro Vancouver’s waterfront. This development will have a total of 665 luxury units and feature an Owner’s Club in each building. Construction is scheduled for completion in the Fall/Winter of 2024.
Challenge:
Minimize any potential noise and vibration transfer from the main electrical room which is located between amenity spaces adjacent, above, and below.
Humming and buzzing noises are common complaints with electrical transformers, which are a standard requirement in residential, commercial and industrial buildings. Even though a transformer has no moving parts, the vibrations they produce, caused by the magnetostriction, are like those generated by motor-run equipment and can create noise issues throughout the building.
Solution:
A 4” thick concrete floating floor, raised up using LDS (low dynamic stiffness) rubber isolators using 2 layers of reinforcing rebar to create a 4” air gap along with a built-in 4” housekeeping pad for the transformer and accessories. The equipment pad was poured monolithically with the slab in order to meet the minimum thickness requirement for seismic restraint.
The air gap in these floating concrete floor systems is the isolator. The larger the air gap (standard is 2”) the greater the increase in STC and IIC of the floating concrete floor. This solution gives the best potential for optimal isolation in such a central area of the building.
Result:
The addition of an air gap provides a significant increase to the STC and IIC ratings of the floor. This effectively mitigates the potential for noise transfer of the transformer hum into neighbouring spaces. Residents of the building will not be impacted by the operation of the transformer.