52 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES 



only a stone's throw from heavy traffic routes. Such screening by inter- 

 vening buildings is often much more pronounced than the fading with 

 distance, which latter, on the inverse-square law, is at the rate of 6 phons 

 for a doubling of the distance. 



Not all of us are free, however, to pick and choose our locations and, 

 in some cases, the noise from both within and without a building is such 

 that only by the most careful planning can quiet conditions be secured 

 for a reasonable outlay or indeed at all. For the rest, the remedies depend 

 on the circumstances, but are much the same as those for the noisy source 

 viz. double windows and doors and possibly walls ; double floors, the 

 upper one resting on resilient supports ; as much discontinuity of 

 structure as is practicable, and acoustic absorbents on the walls and 

 ceilings. The success of remedial measures in a building already erected 

 is likely to be limited. 



It has to be recognised that modern building design and materials do 

 not provide protection from noises, whether from inside or outside, like 

 the more solid houses of a generation ago. Many people can no longer 

 escape from the noise of their neighbour's wireless, gramophone, vacuum 

 cleaner, bathroom or even his conversation. It is a common complaint 

 that noises such as banging or tapping can be heard throughout the length 

 and breadth of large buildings constructed oh modern lines. 



The noise problem is accentuated in the case of the large blocks of 

 flats which are being erected in all quarters, and which apparently are 

 mainly adapted for quiet tenants who are prepared to conform in this 

 respect to a landlord's reasonable requirements. But there are those who 

 contend that in communal housing, the acoustic conditions should be 

 such that noise is automatically confined within the room in which it is 

 made, so that a slogan of ' more cry, little noise ' should represent the 

 situation. They desire to order their own home life, even if it takes the 

 form of leaving the wireless on all day and most of the night, the gramo- 

 phone being there to fill up any gaps. They are opposed to curbing the 

 natural inclination of their children to play vociferously, bang doors and 

 run about. On the other hand, they feel that they ought not to be put 

 in the position of involuntarily annoying their neighbours, even if they 

 should be invalids, or night workers trying to sleep by day, or who have 

 children trying to do homework or who go to bed early. 



The situation lies largely with local authorities, who should lay down 

 building bye-laws, setting forth minimum standards of acoustic insula- 

 tion. The architect and builder have of necessity been driven from 

 traditional methods of construction to meet the economic requirements 

 and closer scientific designing of to-day. Discontinuity of structure and 

 the use of massive and poorly conducting materials formerly provided 

 defence against sound, but instead we now have monolithic structures 

 which are not only thinner and lighter than the old, but are composed of 

 good conducting materials. The steel-framed and ferro-concrete build- 

 ing, cement mortar, hard bricks and plaster, to say nothing of a general 

 ramification of central-heating, running water and other piping, have 

 replaced the softer brickwork, lime mortar and plaster, wooden beams, 

 joists and studding, and the localised piping of the older houses. No 



