Advantages Of Moveable Partitioning Systems

Advances in technology have significantly improved the long term viability of installing a moveable partitioning system Glass Partitions Manchester

Whether it is a school, commercial building, leisure facility or hospital being developed, with land in the UK at a premium, all properties must be designed to maximise the use of available space. Moveable partitioning systems have been available for many years but it is only with relatively recent advances in design that they have offered a long term solution that delivers on all fronts - acoustic privacy, aesthetics, sustainability and usage.

Perhaps one of the most important advances has to be innovative Custom power lift Partitions. These totally unique folding partitions store in the ceiling cavity, automatically lowering to the floor at the touch of a button. Hundreds of power lift partitions have been built in the UK to date, delivering a solution that has many advantages over other systems. In addition to making it possible for one person to reconfigure a room in a matter of minutes using the simple turnkey operation, with careful installation power lift partitions can deliver superior acoustic performance, almost entirely eliminating the problem of flanking - where sound passes over the top, around or under the primary partition. Another obvious benefit of this type of system is that no valuable floor and wall space is required to store the partitioning panels when not in use, making the absolute best use of any room at all times.

Installed in a number of high profile commercial buildings in London, including the headquarters for Gensler, Moody's in Canary Wharf and Henderson Global Investors the benefits of power lift partitions are now being recognised by a wider audience. Underutilised spaces such as a large school hall can be quickly partitioned to dramatically increase usage as demonstrated by the successful installation of a 15m long power lift partition at a special needs school in Southwark. Similarly, the function area of the new Melton Borough Council office building benefits from two power lift partitions, allowing conferences, meetings and training events to be scheduled alongside each other.

Using power lift partitions is now easier to divide a room with a stepped or sloped floor such as a lecture hall or theatre. As it is lowered from the ceiling the bottom edges of partition panels can be custom designed to perfectly match the floor below making it a reality to hold a conference on one side of a stepped hall whilst a music rehearsal occurs on the other

A traditional horizontal, sliding partition is first manually moved into place before a hand crank is used to expand seals around the edges of each panel. The effectiveness of the system to provide a firm, temporary wall that offers good acoustics relies entirely on the individual operating the crank, leading to the potential for human error due to lack of strength or care and attention.

Delivering an infinitely more effectively solution, semi-automatic partitioning systems ensure a solid fixing is created and maximum acoustic performance delivered every time. As each lightweight panel is manual moved effortlessly into place the automatic expansion of heavy duty rubber seals is initialised. Pressure-sensitive, the seals expand along all edges of the partition to exactly the required level, creating a strong dividing wall that offers an impressive acoustic barrier.

When specifying a partitioning system it is important to compare like with like, to ensure an appropriate level of privacy is achieved. The R'w performance of a partition refers to the 'in-situ' acoustic rating and takes into account flanking (where sound passes over the top, around or under the primary partition). This is different to a product's laboratory tested Rw rating, which is more relevant as a comparison tool but not necessarily an indicator of the final performance you can expect in a particular location.