Bath Prior Park College Multi-Purpose Hall

A heritage hall within Prior Park College in Bath, renewed through a discreet acoustic treatment and a ceiling upgrade designed to respect the building’s historic character. The first stage introduced natural-oak acoustic wood panels in a calm, understated form, improving clarity and reducing reverberation without altering the room’s identity. The result is a more focused and comfortable space for exams, assemblies, and performances, achieved with minimal visual intervention.

Project

Multi-purpose Event & Exam Hall

Location

Bath / United Kingdom

Client

Prior Park College

Capacity

450

Completed

August 19, 2025

Space

Schools

" I would happily recommend Acoustic Design Architecture to anyone who needs acoustic works to be carried out. "

Mr.Mike Crudge
Estates Manager

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Uncontrolled acoustics in a heritage school hall.

Prior Park College's multi-purpose hall sits on one of Bath's most recognisable heritage estates and is used daily for exams, assemblies and performances. Its acoustics were the problem: harsh reflections and long reverberation made concentration and speech clarity a constant struggle.

The brief was to improve the room without disturbing its character. We started with the ceiling, developing a more controlled scheme, then added 128 natural-oak grooved wood panels installed at varying angles.

The hall is now clearer, calmer and more focused, and it still looks like the same room.

Challenge

Uncontrolled acoustics in a heritage school hall.

The hall had harsh reflections, long reverberation and a ceiling that scattered sound unpredictably. With exams, assemblies and performances held there every day, both concentration and speech clarity suffered.

Every intervention also had to feel quiet, respectful and in keeping with the building's historic atmosphere.

Solution

Ceiling-focused acoustic treatment with grooved wood panels

We revisited the school's initial design concept and developed a more controlled ceiling scheme that balanced absorption and reflection across the volume. Between the structural beams, the entire ceiling void was lined with black acoustical backing to stabilise reverberation.

Below it, 128 natural-oak grooved wood panels, each individually coded and installed at varying angles, form a subtle wave geometry. The form scatters sound and gives the ceiling a refined visual rhythm.

Outcomes

Improvement in acoustic performance

The natural-oak panels improve clarity and reduce reverberation without altering the room's identity. The hall is calmer and more focused for exams, assemblies and performances, achieved with minimal visual intervention.

Natural oak was chosen as a calm palette that belongs in the building and will age with it.

From first survey to final finish

Seven stages, one point of contact. Book a free survey or call +44 1908 880191, and we'll come back to you with the next step.

Book a free site survey
Acoustic Survey

An acoustician visits the site, or works from your drawings and photos when a visit isn't practical. Either way, the room, its surfaces and how it is used are recorded before any advice is given.

Acoustic Assessment

Reverberation, ambient noise and noise transfer are read against what the space is used for. The findings arrive as an AI-assisted acoustic report with recommendations, yours to keep with no obligation to proceed.

Acoustic Design

Treatment is modelled against a reverberation target, then drawn up with panel positions, fixings and finishes. Nothing moves forward until you have approved the design.

Specification & Quotation

Every quotation comes with the specification behind it, listing products by type, quantity and finish with costs set out line by line. What is quoted is what the design calls for.

Acoustic Product Supply

Panels, baffles, ceilings and screens come from the manufacturers we work with and are supplied to the approved specification. What arrives on site matches what was designed.

Acoustic Installation

Our installation team fits to the approved drawings, checking positions and fixings as they go. One team supplies and installs the treatment.

Acoustic Testing & Compliance

Optional paid add-on: after fit-out the space can be measured again and compared with the original survey, so the improvement is measured rather than assumed. Compliance testing is carried out with our testing partner, EMC Acoustics, and the written record goes into your building file.