[IMAGE: Former commercial building, West Yorkshire town centre]
Planning Noise Assessment — Residential Conversion
Former commercial building to 14 apartments. Noise monitoring, facade specification and planning submission support.
Acoustic Consultancy · Yorkshire
Acoustic Consultancy for Yorkshire Developers and Architects
Noise impact assessments, acoustic design and sound testing, handled personally by a Director-level consultant from the first call to the final submission.
If your project needs an acoustic consultant, experience matters. So does getting a response the same day, speaking to the person doing the work, and receiving a report that the planning authority will accept without queries coming back. That is what Opal Acoustics provides.
Director-level expertise.
Boutique practice.
Based in Guiseley, Opal Acoustics serves the whole of Yorkshire — Leeds, Bradford, Harrogate, Wakefield, York and the M62 corridor — providing the kind of acoustic consultancy you would expect from a major firm, without the layers of account management that tend to get in the way.
Every project is handled by Director of Acoustics Richard Whitaker, with full membership of the Institute of Acoustics (IOA) and over 15 years of experience.
[LOGO: Institute of Acoustics member badge]
Member of the Institute of Acoustics, the professional body for acoustics in the UK.
[IMAGE: Noise monitoring equipment on site]
What We Do
Three core services.
Three core services.
One point of contact.
Planning and Noise Impact Assessments
Noise impact assessments for planning applications, including BS4142 reports, noise monitoring surveys and facade acoustic specifications. We work directly with architects and planning consultants to produce reports that local planning authorities accept.
Planning and Noise AssessmentsPart E and BB93 Sound Testing
Pre-completion sound testing for new build residential and education projects across Yorkshire. Results issued within 48 hours, with remediation guidance provided as standard if a test is failed.
Sound TestingAcoustic Design Review
Review of construction drawings and specifications at any RIBA stage, identifying acoustic risks and providing specifications your architect or contractor can act on before problems reach the site.
Acoustic Design Review
How It Works
Simple to instruct.
Simple to instruct.
Responsive throughout.
Acoustic consultancy does not need to be complicated. Here is how most projects begin:
01
Send us your drawings
Email the site address and any available drawings. A brief description is enough to get started if drawings are not yet available.
02
We review and call you back
We will look at the project and get back to you the same day with initial thoughts, any questions we need to ask, and a clear indication of likely scope and cost.
03
Receive a fixed-fee proposal
Once we have what we need, we confirm the scope, the programme, and the fee in writing. No hidden stages and no surprises.
04
We get to work
Surveys, reports and test certificates are delivered to your programme, with regular updates along the way.
Who We Work With
Projects across a wide range of sectors and client types.
Residential developers
New build schemes and conversions, from single dwellings to large multi-phase developments.
Architects
Acoustic input from RIBA Stage 2 through to post-construction testing and condition discharge.
Planning consultants
Noise impact assessments in support of planning applications.
Builders and contractors
Part E sound testing and building regulations compliance.
Bars, restaurants and licensed premises
Noise management plans and retrospective assessments.
Education
BB93 acoustic design and sound testing for schools and colleges.
Senior experience.
No middlemen.
When you instruct Opal Acoustics you get direct access to senior consultants — no account manager, no junior consultant assigned to delivery, and no delay while work is reviewed up a management chain. You speak to Richard, who carries out the surveys, writes the reports, and is responsible for every project personally.
For clients who have worked with larger consultancies, this is often exactly the arrangement they wished they had been able to get.
Our Work
Three examples of the kind of work we handle.
[IMAGE: New build residential development under construction, Yorkshire]
Part E Sound Testing — Multi-Phase Development
60-unit housebuilder programme. Failure analysis, remediation guidance and full testing across four phases.
[IMAGE: External bar terrace, Yorkshire town centre, evening]
Noise Management Plan — Licensed Bar, Yorkshire Town Centre
Retrospective compliance for external terrace and amplified music. Licensing authority accepted the plan without a review hearing.