The study of sound effect in architectural design of speech therapy unit

Abstract

Speech therapy is a treatment for disorders caused by speech and hearing
impairments. Sound is the most essential factor for consideration of the speech therapy area design. Therefore, architectural design should understand the behaviour of users and sound variables control, both inside and outside of the building. This research focused on the noise factors in architecture that can affect speech therapy, processing for the design of treatment area appropriately. The result found two sound variables: (1) sound from indoor space, including two factors such as ambient noise apart from speech therapy unit, and ambient noise from building system; and (2) sound from environment, including ambient noise from site context and from nature such as rain sound. In case of material and
construction, the building walls should be constructed with reinforced concrete system, in which the lightweight brick is able to reduce external noise by 38-45 decibels. In case of roofing, the metal sheet should be avoided, but, if necessary due to the shape of roof, there should be sound insulation on metal sheet. In addition, acoustic absorption properties can be used due to budget constraints, in which the 3-inch thickness of insulation can reduce the noise by 50 decibels. Moreover, the interior design could consider the installation of sound insulation to control the reflection of sound from outside the building, which would also improve the efficiency of the system design.