SoundDown Raised Acoustic Floors Bring Acoustic Comfort to Metlifecare Retirement Village

The SoundDown™ Tranquillo flooring system was specified to minimise sound transfer between floors at Metlifecare on Fairway Garden’s new care building — a three-storey CLT building targeting a 6 Green Star rating.

Metlifecare on Fairway Garden is a new retirement village located next to the Pakuranga Golf Course. The multi-stage development features 203 independent living apartments, an amenities building with facilities including a café and lounge area, and a three-storey care building offering 3,200 m2 of living space. The SoundDown Tranquillo raised acoustic flooring system was specified across 2,100 m2 of this care facility, ensuring a comfortable acoustic environment for residents and staff.

Metlifecare is targeting a 6 Green Star As Built rating for the new care centre, which has led to extensive use of CLT for the structure. “The whole building is made out of CLT timber, rather than concrete or precast,” says Site Manager, Nick Ward, CMP. “The floor slabs are CLT, the walls are CLT, and the roof is CLT.”

To ensure minimum sound transfer between CLT floors, an acoustic flooring system was needed. The SoundDown Tranquillo system, designed specifically for mass timber buildings, provided a smart solution. SoundDown Tranquillo features a build-up of pre-assembled acoustic battens, high-performance acoustic insulation, and durable Magendure board, providing a raised acoustic floor system that can achieve up to STC 66dB and IIC 60dB.

The Tranquillo system has been installed in several large retirement developments across New Zealand, where the Build Anatomy team have proven their ability to deliver on complex projects with tight schedules. This ability to work in with project timelines was crucial for the Metlifecare project.

“The construction programme is on a strict schedule with lots of services and subtrades — passive fire plumbing, electrical, mechanical. It’s almost like putting a jigsaw together with a time bomb beside you,” says Nick. “For the flooring, Build Anatomy were able to deliver the best service when it came to working in and meeting deadlines.”

To ensure faster, quieter construction, prefabricated bathroom pods were used for the care suites. This provided a challenge when it came to installing the acoustic flooring system, as the pods were at a different height to the acoustic floor build-up. There were also other areas, such as where floors abut staircases, corridors or ranch sliders, where there were variations in the floor height that needed to be addressed.

“What we were trying to achieve is a flat level entry for wheelchairs, so if someone is rolling anywhere in the building, from the elevator, or into a podroom or onto the deck, the level is dead flat,” explains Nick. “The system was specified with an 80mm build-up but we couldn’t get 80mm everywhere. Warren from Build Anatomy was good at highlighting any problems and giving us solutions to make it work.”

Installation was fast and straightforward, helping to meet project deadlines. “The Build Anatomy team were just awesome, just the kind of subcontractor you want,” says Nick. “The floors were installed way faster than I thought they were going to be. Considering they were laying the entire floor, I hadn’t expected it to go so smoothly. I’m really happy with it.”