How Can Acoustic Lighting Help You Achieve the WELL Building Standard Certification?

Mount Lighting recently collaborated with AllSfär, the acoustic solutions specialists, to create Tranquila, the acoustic lighting range that can help to satisfy the WELL Building Standard™ performance criteria. This range of acoustic lighting is unique due to the collaborative aspect of the project. Their partnership with AllSfär concluded with a range of customisable, high-quality products manufactured in the UK that will benefit Architects, Designers, Specifiers and, most importantly, workspace occupiers.

The WELL Building Standards™ are a performance-based system for features inside working environments that impact human health and well-being. While some building standards, such as BREEAM, are changing to align with NET ZERO as much as possible to aid sustainability, other changes are needed to support the well-being of the occupants of the building. The WELL Building Standard™ intends to elevate human health within commercial buildings and workspaces to ensure a productive and comfortable environment. 

WELL concepts consist of ten factors to measure the effect on health and meeting the standard: air, water, light, nourishment, thermal comfort, materials, sound, mind, community, movement, and comfort. As we spend so much time in our working environments, we must work to meet these well-being standards. 

During the development stages of the Tranquila range, Mount Lighting and AllSfär prioritised the criteria for the two WELL factors for which they can meet the objectives: Light and Sound, seeking to create a lighting system which would benefit building occupants and elevate their setting by decreasing disrupting noise levels whilst working with circadian rhythms to aid a productive and comfortable atmosphere.

Although WELL requirements cover the project’s overall performance, not the individual product, Mount Lighting's Pacifica Linear Luminaire from the Tranquila range can assist with the WELL performance criteria relating to the following features:

Light 

• L02 – Visual Lighting Design, Option 2 – Predetermined Light Levels
• L03 – Circadian Lighting Design
• L04 – Electric Light Glare Control, Option 2 – Space Considerations
• L07 – Visual Balance, Option 1 – Parameters for visual balance
• L08 – Electric Light Quality, Colour Rendering Index (CRI), and Flicker
• L09 – Occupant Lighting Control (when used in conjunction with Casambi)
   

For the sound criteria, the company's collaboration with AllSfär focussed on the sound-absorbing properties of the light fittings and how that affects people. Clients can use Pacifica to satisfy the following features for WELL performance criteria.

Sound 

• S04 – Reverberation Time
• S05 – Sound Reducing Surfaces
   

Acoustic lighting has many benefits for working environments, simultaneously minimising sound distribution and absorbing sound, resulting in a distraction-free, soothing workspace. 

AllSfär’s UK-made, highly sustainable felt acoustic surfaces greatly aided in installing the Tranquila range and allowed for accurate and excellent acoustics, assisting Mount in completing the goal for an acoustic lighting range. 

The Tranquila range comprises four main product designs: the hero product of the range, the Pacifica, the Aura, the Sonido, and the Soreno. Mount Lighting and AllSfär intended to benefit the A&D community both in design and to meet wellness standards. 

The Aura circular acoustic lights can be suspended or surface-mounted and offer five sizes ranging from 650mm to 1950mm in diameter. This acoustic luminaire is the optimal choice for large open spaces such as reception areas and conference rooms and is incredibly versatile in control options, including Casambi Wireless lighting controls.

The Sonido is a linear acoustic light with an aluminium profile with direct only or direct/indirect light distribution options. The acoustic qualities of this luminaire make for the ideal lighting fixture in any space with the requirement for bright illumination and sound reduction. 

The Soreno luminaire is a hexagonal-shaped acoustic light option well-suited for contemporary offices and industrial spaces that prioritise design. These hexagonal lights can be used singularly or as a geometric pendant, which makes a strong visual impact on any area. 

Chris Michaeloudis, Head of Marketing at AllSfär, noted this of the collaboration: 

At AllSfär, we’re always looking to create innovative, sustainable acoustic products that combine design aesthetics with acoustic practicalities, so when the team at Mount Lighting approached us about collaborating with them, we jumped at the opportunity. We worked very closely with the team at Mount Lighting throughout the product development process, ensuring that we created a range of acoustic lighting that is beautiful, sustainable AND that satisfies the WELL Building Standard performance criteria. 

All our acoustic products are made from 60% recycled PET from post-consumer waste. PET has excellent sound-absorbing properties and can be cut to almost any shape and size, which allows us to design a flexible range of acoustic panels for the various lighting products in the range. 

We are so thrilled with Tranquila that we have already installed it in our showroom and welcome you to come along and see it for yourself at 14 Baltic Street East, EC1Y 0UJ.

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