CASE STUDY: STRUCTURAL NOISE DECOUPLING ON A WOODEN STRUCTURE BUILDING USING SYLOMER®. ACCIONA’S HEADQUARTERS IN MADRID

History of the building

This historic industrial building was designed by Luis de Landecho and was built in 1905 for original use as the engine hall of the Cerro de la Plata Industrial Gasification Company.

The building is located on Ombú Street in Madrid, close to Méndez Álvaro Street and in front of the Corte Inglés shopping centre.

Figure 2. Location of the building

PROJECT INFORMATION

Acciona acquired the building in disuse from Naturgy in 2017 to carry out a sustainable building project that will be its own headquarters with more than 10,000 m2 of new offices.

The sustainable project consists of the following:

• Preservation of more than 10,000 tonnes of brickwork of the outer structure.

• Rehabilitation of the building envelope.

• Construction of a sustainable interior structure made of wood from local forests, which will save more than 1,000 tonnes of CO2 and is recyclable and removable.

• A central skylight that brings natural light into the interior and incorporates silicon plates that generate electricity.

• A 10,000 m2 park bordering the building with 300 trees of local species with outdoor work spaces and informal meeting areas.

The building is located on property which is close to surface suburban train railways and an underground metro line that transmit vibrations to the building.

La Margarida Acoustic Engineering measured these vibrations inside the building and although the maximum vibration emission level law is 79dB-s and therefore complies with Royal Decree 1367/2007 which defines a maximum of 84 dB-s in offices, the constructor decides to isolate the wooden structure inside the building to ensure good comfort for office users.

AMC-MECANOCAUCHO®, in collaboration with the company VSL, carried out a study based on the loads and the supporting surface of the wooden structure provided by the Architectural Studio, taking in to account the vibration measurement provided by the Acoustic Engineering previously mentioned.

• Calculations have been carried out to determine the Sylomer/Sylodyn density that best suits the load of each anti vibration mount.

• Secondly, the thickness of Sylomer/Sylodyn required at each support is determined to provide the correct vibration isolation performance.

  

  

• As a result, it is estimated a maximum residual vibration emission level law of 67 dB, equivalent to 12 dB of isolation.

Figure 3. Attenuation graph Figure 4. Vibration spectrums

AREAS OF ACTION

Figure 5. Areas of action for the insulation of the wooden structure

AMC-MECANOCAUCHO® identifies each pad and each strip of Sylomer/Sylodyn one by one and puts them into groups according to the area of action, in order to improve ease of installation of each element in to its correct location on site.

LIFT HUBS

Figure 6. Insulating material for lift hubs Figure 7. Lift hubs

STAIRS

Figure 8. Insulating material for stairs Figure 9. Stairs

COLUMNS

Figure 10. Insulating material for columns Figure 11. Columns

PERIMETER SUPPORT OF THE FLOOR SLAB

Figure 12. Insulating material for the perimeter support of the floor slab Figure 13. Perimeter support of floor slab

AMC-MECANOCAUCHO® produces anti vibration mounts and has a team of application engineers to assist with your installation needs, so please do not hesitate to contact our technical department if you require assistance on this subject.