Appearance isn’t everything . . .
At IAC Acoustics we are passionate about designing and installing noise control solutions that not only perform acoustically initially but continue to perform for many years. That’s why when we were contacted by Sarah Tripp, a lecturer at The Glasgow School of Art who spoke so enthusiastically about an old IAC Booth installed within the Barnes Building of the GSA, we couldn’t resist finding out more . . .
Sarah along with her colleague Isobel Lutz Smith one of the GSA librarians discovered that the IAC ‘sound booth’ was in fact inherited when the art school took over the former children’s dispensary building of the Glasgow Hospital for Sick Children, originally opened in 1888 to provide free medical treatment and medicines to deserving poor children.
Isobel’s research indicates that the booth was originally installed by the clinical physics and bio-engineering department of the Western Regional Hospital Board where Professor John Lenihan was awarded his Ph.D for research on acoustics. After being inherited by the GSA it is now regularly used by staff and students as a sound recording booth and continues to be one of their most valuable resources, looked after by technician Karena Hansen.
The history of their much loved and much used sound booth fascinated both Sarah and Isobel who contacted IAC to try to find out more and said . . .
“we find it amazing that something we accidentally inherited when the art school purchased the property has become so invaluable to the production of so many students work. The booth itself has a very wonderful presence and is extremely worn but also super strong – definitely built to last!”
Sarah and Isobel – The Glasgow School of Art
After digging into our own history here at IAC we found that this booth was manufactured back in the early 1960’s and may even have been shipped over from our factory in America making it around 60 years old and possibly one of the first IAC Booths to have been installed in the UK.
It is clear from the images taken by Isobel that the booth has been well used and has suffered considerable wear and tear over the years however the acoustic performance has never faltered. Sarah says “the booth is a thing of beauty and a wonderful, wonderful place to be, so very silent”.
IAC would like to give huge thanks to Sarah and Isobel for sharing their research with us. It’s no secret that we take great pride in manufacturing high quality products designed to stand the test of time and it’s truly wonderful to know that one of our earliest installations is still making an impact all these years later.
