Acoustic Consultant London
Kimber Acoustics provides acoustic consultancy for large residential and mixed use developments, commercial buildings and entertainment venues across London. Our experience includes schemes of more than 1,000 homes, bespoke residential interiors and developments beside railways and live music venues.
From our Fitzrovia office, we support developers, architects, engineers and contractors with noise assessments for planning, railway vibration assessments, building acoustics design, construction advice and sound insulation testing. We also provide remote noise, vibration and dust monitoring, with regular reporting throughout construction.
Led by Robert Kimber MIOA, our advice helps project teams understand acoustic constraints, coordinate practical solutions and manage requirements through construction.
Experience on Major London Developments
Kimber Acoustics has delivered specialist acoustic consultancy as a subcontractor on London developments ranging from bespoke residential buildings to schemes of more than 1,000 homes.
Chapel Place, Ilford
For this development planned to deliver more than 1,000 homes, including Build to Rent, affordable housing and student accommodation alongside commercial uses, Kimber Acoustics provided RIBA Stage 3A acoustic assessments as a subcontractor to NRG Consulting.
The mix of houses and towers, exposed to multiple noise sources from different directions and heights, created a complex assessment. Our noise surveys and modelling established how exposure varied between buildings, elevations and floors. We assessed internal noise under both background ventilation and overheating ventilation conditions, providing acoustic requirements to inform the façade and ventilation designs across the scheme.
The Perfume Factory, North Acton
Kimber Acoustics provided specialist acoustic consultancy as a subcontractor on this 450-apartment development, with project organisations including Darling Associates, Essential Living, Telford Homes (a Trammell Crow company) and Realstar Build to Rent.
Beside a railway corridor, major roads and HS2 works, the scheme required coordinated façade, ventilation and overheating advice. During construction, we assessed sound insulation design changes, undertook detailed predictions and measurements of internal building services noise, and developed external plant noise emission controls. Our scope also included flanking sound transmission mitigation and verification testing.
Lion Green Road, Coulsdon: RIBA Stirling Prize Winner 2026
Kimber Acoustics contributed specialist acoustic consultancy to Lion Green Road, the 2026 RIBA Stirling Prize-winning development designed by Mary Duggan Architects with RUFF Architects. The scheme delivers 157 homes across five distinctive buildings set within shared landscaped grounds.
Working as an acoustic subcontractor, we provided construction noise assessment, building envelope and building services noise assessments, and RIBA Stage 4 acoustic design, including bespoke reverberation control. Our involvement extended into construction with 12 months of noise and dust monitoring and weekly reporting.
Large Residential and Mixed Use Developments
Large London developments bring competing acoustic demands: road and railway noise, neighbouring commercial activity, and sound transfer between homes and other uses within the scheme. Different building heights, orientations and layouts call for requirements tailored to individual blocks, elevations and rooms.
We coordinate acoustic assessments with the ventilation and overheating strategy so that glazing, ventilation and cooling proposals work together, including acoustic input to Part O overheating strategies. Our advice addresses balconies, communal gardens and roof terraces, alongside sound insulation between homes and adjoining shops, offices, gyms and plant rooms.
We develop sound insulation specifications to meet Part E requirements and enhanced client standards. Approved Document E informs the design of separating constructions, with detailed advice on walls, floors, façade junctions, service penetrations and vibration isolation.
At Dock Street in Whitechapel, our Stage 4 sound insulation design combined bespoke luxury interiors with enhanced acoustic performance above Building Regulations requirements throughout. Additional sound insulation measures addressed low frequency music noise from the adjoining ground floor pub. We followed this with construction advice, inspections and pre-completion testing.
Commercial Offices and Building
Services Noise
Good office acoustics support concentration, conversation and confidentiality. Meeting rooms need privacy, shared spaces need controlled reverberation, and building services should operate without intrusive noise.
We advise on sound insulation, speech privacy, acoustic finishes and building services noise for new buildings, refurbishments and fit outs. Where existing structures and services are retained, we identify practical improvements that work within the available space and construction constraints. We assess plant noise affecting neighbouring properties and specify attenuation and vibration isolation to meet planning conditions and internal acoustic requirements.
At Liddell Place in West Hampstead, we assessed a complex network of building services serving residential and office buildings. Multiple banks of VRV units, air handling units and fans were distributed across three buildings at ground and roof levels. Noise sensitive properties surrounded the main plant roof on three sides, with windows below, level with and above the equipment.
We developed and revised the acoustic design during construction, responding to changing layouts and late plant additions while assessing the combined noise against a stringent planning condition. Our work also addressed internal services noise in offices. Detailed commissioning measurements established individual plant noise levels, which informed the final predictive compliance assessment.
Entertainment Venues, Museums and Performance Spaces
London Underground and Railway Noise
and Vibration
Support from Feasibility to Completion
Music and Entertainment Venues
Combining music venues with homes requires a realistic understanding of sound insulation, ventilation and operational requirements before layouts and budgets become fixed.
We assess music noise, including low frequency bass, and advise on transmission through structures, façades, entrances and ventilation systems. We also advise on Agent of Change considerations under London Plan Policies D13 and D14, including new homes beside established venues and new entertainment uses near existing housing.
At The Finsbury, we assessed a proposed basement music venue beneath residential accommodation, identifying demanding sound insulation and ventilation requirements to inform feasibility. At Jubilee Street in Stepney, we modelled pub music noise against levels agreed through a deed of easement, establishing substantial building envelope sound insulation requirements for the neighbouring homes.
Museums and Performance Spaces
Museums and galleries need clear speech and control of sound spill between exhibits, education spaces and quieter galleries. Concert halls and performance spaces require acoustic objectives suited to their programme, considering room geometry, reverberation, clarity, sound isolation and low background noise.
We work with architects and building services engineers to integrate these requirements with the building’s architectural and operational objectives.
Railway constraints extend beyond audible train noise. Ground-borne vibration can enter foundations and cause perceptible movement or re-radiated noise inside rooms, including buildings beside or above Underground tunnels.
Our railway noise and vibration assessments combine site measurements with advice on layouts, façades, basements, foundations and structural connections. Surveys account for relevant railway operations, including freight movements that may differ substantially from regular passenger services. We assess development beside London Underground, London Overground and other passenger and freight railway routes.
Establishing how vibration reaches a building helps target mitigation effectively. Occupant comfort and building damage need separate judgements. BS 6472-1 guides the assessment of human response to vibration in buildings, and BS 7385-2 guides the assessment of vibration damage risk.
At Cornerstone Apartments on Hornsey Road, surveys identified unexpectedly high vibration associated with heavy freight trains among the commuter services. We identified retaining wall resonance as the cause, allowing us to recommend targeted mitigation with minimal additional build cost. Our scope also included building envelope sound insulation advice for road and railway noise.
Major Construction Projects
Remote Noise, Vibration and Dust Monitoring
Demolition, piling and excavation in London often take place close to occupied homes, offices and businesses. Construction assessments need to establish workable controls that reflect neighbouring sensitivities and the contractor’s programme.
We provide baseline surveys, construction noise and vibration predictions, and mitigation advice, following the guidance in BS 5228 Parts 1 and 2. Assessments help teams compare working methods and identify activities requiring additional controls before work starts.
Our services include noise, vibration and dust sections for Construction Environmental Management Plans, technical support for Section 61 prior consent applications under the Control of Pollution Act 1974 and advice on borough-specific requirements. As works progress, we assess changes to methods, plant and sequencing, investigate disruptive activities and advise on corrective measures.
Site teams need timely alerts and clear reporting throughout the works. We provide remote construction noise monitoring, vibration monitoring and dust monitoring, with automated alerts and weekly or monthly reporting.
Baseline monitoring establishes conditions before works begin. We agree monitoring locations, trigger levels and alert recipients to suit the programme, neighbouring properties and project requirements. Positions are reviewed as construction activities and site conditions change.
Automated alerts notify nominated contacts of exceedances. We review results alongside available site activity records and investigate significant events. Attended measurements can supplement remote monitoring where an operation or complaint needs closer examination.
At Lion Green Road in Coulsdon, we provided 12 months of construction noise and dust monitoring with weekly reporting, giving the project team a consistent record to support site management.
You can appoint our London acoustic consultancy for a defined stage or continuing support throughout the project. Robert Kimber MIOA provides direct technical involvement, working with your design team and contractor to establish acoustic requirements and resolve issues as the scheme develops.
Our appointments can cover planning assessments, detailed specifications, drawing reviews and construction inspections. During construction, we advise on substitutions and design changes, helping teams understand their acoustic implications before installation.
We also investigate completed work where performance falls short. At The Wallis in Hackney Wick, our role extended from Stage 4 design through construction consultancy and pre-completion testing to investigating excessive building services noise. We traced the problem to a plant room installation that departed from the acoustic specification and advised on remedial measures.
Completion services include pre-completion sound insulation testing, plant noise assessments and commissioning surveys against planning conditions and project criteria.
Discuss Your London Project
Whether you are assessing a site, developing the design or preparing for construction, we welcome the opportunity to support your London project.
Send us the site address, a brief description of the development and your programme, together with any available drawings, planning conditions or existing acoustic reports. We will review the information and propose a scope suited to your project stage and objectives.
Contact Robert Kimber MIOA on 07925 455 472 or email rob@kimberacoustics.co.uk.
London office: 4th Floor, Silverstream House, 45 Fitzroy Street, Fitzrovia, W1T 6EB