Last month, Rockfon assembled some of the top names in acoustics to discuss the prevailing audible topics influencing today’s architecture. Here, FC&A reports on the findings from the stimulating roundtable held at South Shields’ impressive state-of-the-art cultural venue, The Word. Guided through the FaulknerBrowns-designed building by Project Director Nick Heyward, it was instantaneously evident that; to recognise an acoustically-sound environment, you have to physically experience the environmental change.

Here James Smith, Co-Director of A-SAFE, explains why designing in safety at the architectural stage is essential to ensure a productive operation.

With the WELL building standard and global sustainability standard BREEAM streamlining and greatly simplifying the process of obtaining both a certified BREEAM and a WELL rating, this is great news for companies already on a path towards sustainability and planning on a people-centric approach towards their developments. Darren Evans explains further.

Mandy Leeming, Design and Development Manager for Interface EMEA, discusses that by aligning colour psychology with design trends, companies can create flexible and productive environments while giving employees the freedom to choose where and how they work best.

Following the Government’s White Paper pledge to cut red tape to boost house-building, Dave Bennett, Business Manager for Topcon GB and Ireland, argues that making construction more efficient through better use and sharing of data is key.