News

After 16 years with RMP as an Acoustic Consultant, Elena is moving to Edinburgh Napier University’s SCEBE Merchiston campus to teach full time !

Fellow of the Institute of Acoustics, former Vice President Northern Region Europe in the Audio Engineering Society, Elena is fully involved the world of Acoustic consultancy.

After joining RMP in 2007, Elena worked on several product development and Knowledge Transfer projects (with Monarfloor Acoustic Systems Ltd, now part of BMI Group, SFX, Besblock, and others). As an acoustic consultant, Elena works on a wide range of projects for health and education over the UK. From project design to commissioning testing, the projects she was involved in include the Western General Hospital, Bargarran/ St John Bosco school, West Calder High School, James Gillespie High School, Dumfries Learning Town, Leicester Schools, Wallyford Primary School, Forth Valley College.

Bradley is joining the team for a 3-month placement in partnership with beX (Built Environment Exchange). In addition to learning the ropes of acoustic consultancy on an array of exciting projects, Bradley will be working on a special a case study on topographical surveying with CadnaA sound modelling software.

On Wednesday, Richard gave an update on Noise and Vibration from Air Source Heat Pumps at the REHIS Annual Pollution online event. Heat pumps have an important role to play in achieving Government’s strategy to reach net zero carbon emission by 2050 however as ASHPs are introducing an external noise source, they need to be taken in account by Construction and Environmental Health Professionals.

The update provided an introduction to ASHPs and an overview of the current Local Authority Criteria for level noise limits. Richard also presented different methods of measurement and prediction of noise levels from ASHPs at the façade of residential properties, as well as acoustic mitigations strategies and innovative solutions from Construction professionals.

Richard’s presentation can be found here.

Warmest congratulations to Dr Elena Prokofieva who recently became a Fellow of the Institute of Acoustics.

The FIOA membership is granted to those who have made significant contributions to the field so it is an immense achievement in the career of an acoustic consultant!

RMP is currently working with Morrison Construction on the new Mountain Bike Innovation Centre in Innerleithen. This project includes internal sound insulation design, reverberation time modelling, and external noise impact assessments.

The Centre is a joint initiative headed by Edinburgh Napier University and Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland, partnered with Scottish Enterprise and funded by the Scottish Funding Council and Edinburgh Napier University.

Visit Edinburgh Napier University’s website for more information about the Mountain Bike Innovation Centre.

We are pleased to introduce our new Acoustic Consultant, Murat Papaker, and Sound and Air Tightness Tester, Conor Mclean. Both joined RMP in the last few months as part of our continued growth.
For more information and to get in touch, please visit Murat’s and Conor’s profiles.

Our very own Dr. Elena Prokofieva and Scott Tunnah are presenting their work on the topics of School Acoustics and Environmental Noise at the Inter-noise conference in Glasgow.

The 51^st International Congress and Exposition on Noise Control Engineering will be held at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) on 21-24 August 2022. This is the main international conference on noise control engineering and the event attracts scientists, engineers, and consultants from around the world. The theme this year will be “Noise Control in a more Sustainable Future”, and it is especially relevant after COP26 was held in Glasgow last year.

If you have the chance to participate in the conference, make sure you catch the presentations from our consultants on Wednesday 24^th August. Their papers involved hours of hard work and dedication and we are looking forward to seeing them present in front of their peers.

Dr. Elena Prokofieva will present her research on “Narrowing the knowledge gap – solving the problems that occur when teaching the theory of acoustics in a higher education course” (10:50 AM – 11:10 AM) as well as a second presentation on the Acoustics of Education Spaces and the “Effect of presence of furnishings on designed and measured reverberation time in school spaces” (1:30 PM – 1:50 PM).

In his presentation (1:50 PM – 2:10 PM), Scott Tunnah will look at “Environmental Noise Monitoring and Assessment of Petrochemical Plants”, more particularly with an examination of the Scottish regulatory guidance for the monitoring and assessment of environmental noise from petrochemical plants, as well as the practical challenges of source measurement, and long-term monitoring and methods of data analysis.

Acoustics play a significant role in the learning and teaching environment as good acoustic design can make a positive difference in reducing unwanted noise and enhancing the acoustic ambience. In recent years, RMP have successfully completed the acoustic design of over 300 new education building design projects throughout the UK and we are now pleased to present our new brochure, entirely dedicated to Higher Education Buildings.

Click here to learn more about our acoustic services and past projects in this area.

Amongst an impressive array of exceptional Scottish buildings, we are delighted that the Forth Valley Campus has been announced as one of the 8 winners in this year’s awards. The jury commended the project’s architects, Reiach and Hall, on their design which provides equal support for the widest possible range of people in a site engaging with its surroundings, from Falkirk centre to Helix Park.

RMP provided design stage advice through to detailed design advice during construction, as well as compliance testing in the campus’s workshop block. The consultancy’s advice on high performance acoustic ceilings and durable and resistant wall panels were key elements in providing an optimal learning environment and achieve BB93 recommended reverberation times.

More information on RMP’s involvement in the project, here.

We are delighted to introduce our new Sound and Air Tightness Tester, Danny –  you may have already seen testing around the UK!

A Napier University alumnus, Danny has joined the team in January 2022 and he is now busy working on a wide array of sound insulation projects around the country. For more information and to get in touch, please visit Danny’s profile

As of November 2019, Caron Ormiston will no longer have to fight through the busy City Bypass traffic to get to our head office as she is moving onto pastures new.

We take this opportunity to thank Caron again for her hard work and commitment to RMP over the past decade, and we wish her all the best in this new adventure.

Well done to our very own Russell Macdonald and his friend Duncan Scott who arrived on their bikes into Ullapool last Friday night after a 477km (296 mile) off-road cycle from the Central Belt.  The journey, which was the realisation of a lockdown dream to escape the confinement of local authority boundaries once allowed to by COVID regulations, was undertaken carrying all that was needed for eating, sleeping and pedalling.  Setting off on the Monday morning, Russell and Duncan spent almost 50 hours in the saddle to cover the distance while ascending a total of 6,560m on various paths, trails and tracks.

Duncan said “It was a great few days: a chance to catch up with an old friend while pushing ourselves harder than we’d thought possible in the wonderfully wild and remote surroundings of the Highlands.  What an adventure!”

Donations were being sought to Duchenne UK, a charity committed to ending Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD): a devastating muscle-wasting disease which is the most common and severe form of Muscular Dystrophy.  At the time of going to press, more than £1,200 had been donated via Duncan and Russell’s JustGiving page.

If you’d like more information about Duchenne UK, or would like to make a donation, please use the following links:

www.duchenneuk.org/

www.justgiving.com/fundraising/duncan-scott19

We have established a Coronavirus Contingency Planning Group to oversee and co-ordinate our preparations to deal with any disruption which could potentially arise as the situation develops. The Group is meeting regularly as the situation continues and as the health and wellbeing of our staff and community is our highest priority, as a result of the Coronavirus (Covid19) outbreak, we are applying some precautionary arrangements to safeguard all.

Our offices are open and we can be contacted as normal on 0345 062 0000 or by email at rmp@napier.ac.uk.  Most of our staff are working from home but we will continue to answer your queries promptly.

We have access to all normal on-line team meeting systems, Microsoft Teams, skype etc.

Restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic have resulted in changes to the way we all need to work but also to the ambient noise climate.  In working with you to establish safe procedures to complete our work, our methodology may also need to be adjusted.  With public welfare paramount, RMP will employ our best professional judgement in completing your project to the satisfaction of all stakeholders.

Construction site testing and inspection will be risk assessed on a case by case basis.  RMP normally require plots being tested are vacated during testing and this will more strictly enforced to achieve the best result and protect our and your staff.  We will be looking to only attend site when no contact with other people can be guaranteed. We will require clients to complete a health and safety questionnaire prior to attending site.

For each project we will agree realistic deadlines with clients and keep clients up-to-date with any issues impacting delivery times.

We want to keep our clients as fully up-to-date as possible so we will continue to monitor the situation and provide as much clarity as possible, when appropriate, on any future timelines, subject to the ongoing medical advice.

The forthcoming period looks certain to challenge our society as a whole, and we understand that our clients will be facing their own challenges at this time.

The measures we have put in place are precautionary.  We therefore ask for your full support with this guidance as we all have a shared responsibility to minimise the risk of exposure and protect our individual and collective health.

As of October Juliette Paris-Newton has decided to move on from RMP to a life with less TGV train noise.

We take this opportunity to thank Juliette again for her hard work and dedication to RMP over the past decade, and we wish her all the best for the future.

Juliette’s drive and motivation was a major contribution to RMP winning work and operating a branch in France, all whilst achieving the goal of delivering an excellent service to our clients. RMP’s first French project for SNCF improving the quality of life for residents near rail lines was awarded with a “Highly Commended” by the Association of Noise Consultants.

As of October Mark Irish will no longer have to fight through busy traffic in the pouring rain to get to our head office as he is returning to the warmer climes of his native Australia.

We take this opportunity to thank Mark again for his hard work and commitment to RMP over the past decade, and we wish him all the best in this new adventure.

Edinburgh Napier University will introduce an MSc on Timber Architectural Design and Technology –the first programme of its kind in the UK, to start October 2019.

RMP are proud to have 3 of our consultants Eleni Kontesidou, Russell Macdonald and Nicola Symington teaching Building Acoustics and Sound Insulation (BSV11147) module.  This compliments RMP’s teaching responsibilities for the MSc in Architectural Technology at Edinburgh Napier University, and the Institute of Acoustics (IoA) Distance Learning Diploma.

RMP are proud to have added support to the draft development of the ANC’s Residential Design Guide.

RMP and Edinburgh Napier University were delighted to host the IOA Scottish Branch at our premises.  After enjoying a Burns supper of haggis, neeps and tatties, visitors viewed a film screening of “In Pursuit of Silence”.  This was followed by a Q&A.