Jakoustic Reflective reduces the impact of noise at new fast food restaurant

Background

McDonalds is one of the biggest food chains in the UK with 1,149 stores nationwide, many of which are located on redeveloped sites near urban areas. One of the issues this can create is noise pollution caused by the activities of customers, vehicles in the car park and drive-thru and the restaurant itself. Since The World Health Organisation linked environmental noise to detrimental impacts on health and wellbeing, finding a solution to mitigate noise has become an important consideration in the planning and design of new premises.

At one of its newly developed restaurants at Cannon Lane in Tonbridge, McDonalds were required by Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council planning authority to have a noise impact assessment to determine the effect the operation would have on the local area, including a section of nearby residential properties.

Many factors were included in the assessment, including the two-storey restaurant design, drive-thru facility and the intended 24 hour opening time. With the increase in demand for early breakfasts and late meals from shift workers, having 24 hour opening times is becoming more and more common, with McDonalds now having 467 stores open 24/7, up from just 9 restaurants in 2006; however, for local residents this can lead to an increase in noise during unsociable hours.

The noise impact assessment found that traffic from the nearby main road was the dominant source of noise in the area and that drive-thrus typically generate low levels of noise as the vehicles move slowly and the cars do not open or close doors. It concluded that the primary sources of noise would be created by car doors in the car park and the noise generated by the intercoms used for the drive-thru. To ensure this did not impact on the wellbeing of local residents, the noise assessment recommended that an acoustic barrier at least 2.7m high should be installed on the northern boundary of the site.