Acoustic doors & doorsets

Shadbolt acoustic doors and doorsets are purpose-made to provide superior appearance combined with good or excellent sound insulation in a wide range of applications.

Standard Shadbolt doors and doorsets fitted with perimeter seals can provide good sound insulation up to 35dB SRI Rw. For special applications high-performance acoustic doors up to 43dB SRI Rw can be supplied, with the same level of features and performance.

See Acoustic doorset range table for a summary.

Shadbolt_veneered_acoustic_doors
  • Acoustic performance is confirmed by a wide range of tests, generally carried out on normally operable doors fitted with non-specialist ironmongery.
  • High performance doors may require powered operation to comply with Building Regulations Part M, see Acoustic seals below.
  • Doors can be used to comply with the requirements of Building Regulations Part E for dwellings, and Schools Building Bulletin 93.
  • Normally supplied as doorsets complete with frames, in order to provide an assurance that the required acoustic performance will be achieved on site.
  • Acoustic doors may also be fire resisting FD30 or FD60, with matching appearance.
  • FD90 and FD120 doors can be supplied with a lower acoustic performance.
  • Available in the same choice of veneers and finishes as standard doors irrespective of acoustic performance, and can be matched to non-acoustic and fire doors throughout a scheme.
  • Matching or complementing acoustic wall and ceiling panelling, see Acoustic wall panels.
  • Available in a very extensive size range as single or double doors.
  • Can be used with carpet or sheet/tile floor finishes.
  • Glazed apertures can be provided whilst retaining good acoustic performance.
  • Manufactured using environmentally friendly and sustainable materials.

All Shadbolt acoustic doors are solid cored without internal framing. The core material is generally selected by Shadbolt according to functional requirements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doors and doorsets are purpose-made to sizes required. They are available in an extensive range of sizes, validated by independent testing.

Doorsets can be supplied in many configurations, including single acting single or double doors, latched or unlatched. Double acting doors may be possible, but this is subject to being able to achieve an effective threshold seal.

For more information contact our technical department.

Door type Nominal
thickness
mm
Nominal
weight
kg/m²
Shadcore 44 28
54 35
Hardcore 44 28
54 34
Shadmaster 44 25
54 30
Shadmaster 30 44 25
54 30
Shadmaster 60 54 31
Shadbolt FD90 64 47
Shadbolt FD120 64 47
Shadmaster 90 44 44
Shadmaster 120 44 44
Shadmaster high
performance acoustic
59 37.5

Doors can be supplied fully finished, generally in the same range of finishes as standard Shadbolt doors.

■ Extensive range of wood veneers, finished in semi-matt lacquer, Paintmaster  satin coloured lacquer, stained, tinted or limed and finished with semi-matt lacquer. Matt and other sheen finishes can also be supplied.

Non-veneer finishes include:

■ Patina high-gloss sprayed polyester lacquer finish.
■ Signal semi-matt sprayed polyurethane coloured lacquer.
■ Both Patina and Signal are available in any BS, RAL, NCS or Dulux Colour Dimensions colour.
■ Plastic laminate in any available colours or patterns.
■ Doors may also be supplied for painting, clear finishing, staining or lacquering by others.

For more information see Veneer Finishes or Laminate and Paint Finishes.

Door frames
Frames are purpose-made machined hardwood, MDF, softwood, or composite. The design, profiles and dimensions of frames, linings and architraves can be varied to suit specifiers’ requirements, subject to any performance limitations.

For veneered door leaves Shadbolt will generally select a species of compatible appearance for the frame. Frames may be stained or tinted before finishing. Veneered frames and architraves are also possible.

Subframes
Shadbolt can supply assembled and braced subframes if so required with all doors and hardwood framesets.

Lippings
Hardwood lippings are applied to either the two long vertical edges or to all four door edges. The lippings may be exposed or concealed on the door faces.

Acoustic doorsets details
Examples of details for acoustic doorsets (non-fire or fire resisting) are shown below. For more details see Acoustic doorsets (registered clients only).

Shadbolt_acoustic_doors_and_doorsets-frame_details

Acoustic seals are supplied fitted as required for performance. In most cases combined fire, smoke and acoustic seals can be supplied where necessary.

For many configurations we use an improved sealing system with the seal fitted to the door stop and the face of the door closing against it as shown below. This has the advantage that there are no projecting fins on the jamb or door edge (except on meeting stiles of double doors), thereby reducing operational friction.

Seals do not generally affect the appearance of the door, with the exception of FD90 and FD120 fire-resisting acoustic door assemblies where a face-fitted threshold drop seal may be required.

For more details of seals see “DOORSETS’ tab underneath.

For higher performance acoustic doorsets and smoke control doorsets, due to the need for tight seals, the initial force required to open the door may exceed the maximum of 30N set by Building Regulations Approved Document M for accessibility. Therefore, where such doors are required to comply with Part M a powered opening/closing system will probably be necessary. See Shadbolt drawing SPEC-645.

Shadbolt_acoustic_doors_and_doorsets-types_of_acoustic_seals

Examples of details for acoustic doorsets (non-fire or fire resisting) are shown below. For more details see Acoustic doorsets (registered clients only).

Shadbolt_acoustic_doors_and_doorsets-doorset_details

Shadbolt doors can be supplied with any suitable ironmongery permitted either by the Code of Practice for Essential Hardware, published by the Door and Hardware Federation (www.dhfonline.org.uk), or under a reputable independent third party quality assurance scheme. There is a wide choice for which fire performance has been validated by test.

The suitability of ironmongery for a specific application should be confirmed with Shadbolt and with the ironmongery manufacturer before specifying. For more information please contact our technical department.

Fire doors must be hinged or pivoted and have some form of self-closing device; they may be latched or unlatched. Door closers must comply with BS EN 1154: 1996. Concealed overhead closers are possible in some applications.

For higher performance acoustic doorsets and smoke control doorsets, due to the need for tight seals, the initial force required to open the door is likely to exceed the maximum of 30N set by Building Regulations Approved Document M for accessibility. Therefore, where such doors are required to comply with Part M a powered opening/closing system will probably be necessary. See illustration below, and for more information see Shadbolt drawing SPEC-645 (registered clients only).

The door leaf construction allows ironmongery to be applied wherever required.
Doorsets may be supplied with all flush fitting ironmongery ready fitted, and with additional projecting furniture supplied separately packed with each doorset.

Machining for ironmongery
Door leaves are machined to take ironmongery as required. These machining operations are fully automated and controlled directly by computer, so maximising accuracy, reproducibility, reliability and control of tolerances.

Fire door signsFire door sign
In accordance with Approved Document B, all Shadbolt doors for non-domestic use may be marked with appropriate fire safety signs complying with BS 5499: Part 1, or for health buildings in accordance with HTM 58.

 

Shadbolt_Part_M_opening_force_requirements
Shadbolt_acoustic_doors_and_doorsets-glazing_details_

Acoustic doors and doorsets can generally be supplied with factory-glazed panels whilst maintaining the specified level of sound insulation (and fire performance where required), as demonstrated by extensive testing.

See Acoustic doorset range table for a summary of glazed door range.

Acoustic doorsets: glazing details
Examples of details for glazed acoustic doorsets (non-fire or fire resisting) are shown below (double leaf doors are shown with ‘old type’ perimeter corner seals for best performance). For more details see Acoustic doorsets (registered clients only).

ACOUSTIC PERFORMANCE

Doorsets can be supplied with sound reduction up to 36 dB for standard construction or up to 43dB for high performance.

We have tested a wide range of doors including single and double, non-fire and fire resisting (FD30 and FD 60), unglazed and glazed.
Door performance is measured in accordance with BS EN ISO 10140 and rated according to BS EN ISO 717-1 as required by Building Regulations Approved Document E.

For standard performance the tested doors were fitted with non-specialised ironmongery and conventionally installed so as to allow normal opening and closing. Thus the test results give a realistic indication of the performance that can be achieved in practice.

Performance in practice
The overall acoustic performance of a construction will depend on the size of the doors, correct installation, elimination of gaps, and control of flanking sound transmission. We recommend that an acoustic engineer is consulted where sound insulation is important.

In general the requirements for acoustic performance are covered by Building Regulations Approved Document E Resistance to the passage of sound. For schools these can be met by following Building Bulletin 93 Acoustic Design of Schools.

For compliance with Building Regulations Part M at high levels of sound insulation, powered opening may be required; see the note under Acoustic seals above.

 

 

 

 

FIRE RESISTANCE

Acoustic doorsets may also provide 30 and 60 minutes fire resistance (FD30 and FD60), with smoke control where required, validated by independent tests and maintaining specified acoustic performance.

Acoustic doorsets providing 90 and 120 minutes fire resistance (FD90 and FD120) can be offered with a relatively low acoustic performance (32dB max).