Saputo Dairy Australia

Octave Acoustics was engaged by Monto Projects to provide full acoustic consultancy services for Saputo Dairy Australia’s new corporate headquarters across Levels 13 and 14 at 28 Freshwater Place, Southbank.

The project presented an early opportunity to assess the base building’s existing acoustic conditions before fit-out commenced, with Octave Acoustics undertaking sound insulation, reverberation and internal noise level testing on selected rooms and partitions to establish a performance baseline. This informed the development of a comprehensive Acoustic Specification tailored to Saputo’s operational requirements and space programming.

Acoustic design addressed the full breadth of the fit-out, including sound insulation requirements for meeting rooms, AV rooms, the boardroom, private offices, wellness and sensory rooms, and open plan collaboration areas, all benchmarked against AAAC guidelines. The boardroom received particular attention, with a discontinuous wall construction separating it from the adjacent teapoint to eliminate structure-borne impact noise from everyday kitchen activities. An operable wall system dividing two meeting rooms on Level 13 was specified and verified to Rw ≥ 53, with a purpose-built acoustic bulkhead above to prevent flanking through the ceiling void.

Reverberation control throughout the fit-out was achieved through a combination of acoustic ceiling systems including, tiles, perforated panel and soffit spray treatments, supplemented by acoustically absorptive wall finishes within meeting rooms and offices.

The mechanical services scope was extensive, encompassing ten ducted packaged air conditioning units and a series of supply air fans across both levels. Octave Acoustics provided unit-by-unit acoustic treatment schedules, specifying duct lining runs, plenum return boxes, acoustic flexible ductwork, and case-radiated noise lagging where required to achieve compliance with AS2107:2016 noise criteria in each space type.

Construction phase services included site inspections and two rounds of compliance testing, an initial round to identify rectification items and a final round confirming the completed fit-out met the established acoustic criteria.

Photography: Gallant Lee Photography