Noise Action Week: Salford’s new acoustics building will help the world sound better

The University, along with construction partners Morgan Sindall, have celebrated the topping out of the £24 million building which is part of the Crescent Salford development.

Excessive noise is linked to serious health impacts including hearing loss, stress and sleep disturbance as well as heart disease and strokes. 

The investment in new facilities reflects the growing urgency of acoustics research. The World Health Organisation identifies noise as the second most harmful environmental pollutant after air pollution. The University of Salford has been at the forefront of this field for over 60 years. 

The topping out ceremony marks a significant moment in the construction of the new facility which is a key project for Crescent Salford, the regeneration partnership between Salford City Council, the University of Salford, and ECF (Muse, L&G, and Homes England). It is the flagship building in the new Crescent Innovation district, which will deliver over 1.7m sq ft of world-class research and business space. Completion of the new acoustics facility is scheduled for mid-2027.

The University’s acoustics spaces already house some of the quietest rooms in the world. Its anechoic chambers are specially engineered to absorb virtually all sound, making them capable of ultra-precise measurements, picking up the hum of an LED lightbulb or the sound of an insect crawling across the floor. 

The new facility will expand on this capability, centred around a vast triple-height space with vibration-isolating foundations and extra dense concrete walls creating several idealised acoustic environments insulated from external noise. It will include a perception engineering sleep laboratory to understand how noise affects rest and recovery, a four-chamber Building Environment Testing Suite to measure how well modern construction materials protect people from external noise, and capacity to provide acoustic testing of anything from EVs to emergency workers' radios. 

The facility will also host the UK’s Designated Institute for Airborne Acoustics Metrology, making it the national reference point for accuracy in the measurement of airborne sound.

Claire Lomax, Acoustics Laboratory Director at the University of Salford said: “This is a one-of-a-kind building for the world-wide acoustics discipline, and it’s amazing to see our ideas beginning to become reality. It will offer a unique opportunity for acoustics research and industrial partnerships that will make a real difference to lives. We can’t wait to get the keys.” 

Steven Gregory, North West area director, Morgan Sindall Construction, said: “Science and technology are major drivers of economic growth in the UK, and this remarkable building is a step change that will make a significant contribution to that capability. We have worked with University of Salford on two previous building projects for their School of Science Engineering and the Environment (SEE) and NERIC – and we are delighted to be leading on this third ground -breaking facility with them.”

Max Bentham, development director at ECF, said: “The continued progress on the new acoustics building marks another significant step forward in the creation of the Crescent Innovation district. We are collectively putting Salford firmly on the map as a city built for the future.”

The site forms part of the University’s Campus Connectivity Plan (CCP) which is the major redevelopment of its research, teaching and public spaces. The Crescent Salford regeneration is a key project within Greater Manchester’s Central Growth Cluster – one of the city region’s six Growth Locations, where investment is being targeted to turbocharge growth. 

In line with the latest sustainability standards, the new all-electric Acoustics Building will target a minimum BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’, utilising low-energy and low-carbon technologies to minimise energy consumption and reduce the building’s carbon footprint.