SterlingOSB Zero offers dynamic solution to music venue

The Box, located at FarGo Village in Coventry, has undergone several phases of regeneration to create the perfect performing arts venue with Norbord’s SterlingOSB Zero at its core. The creative hub started life as a carpet warehouse in part of an industrial estate, before being turned into a gallery and later transformed into a performing arts facility. BPN Architects specified SterlingOSB Zero for the project as it would give the venue character while principally containing noise and offering a strong surface for objects or artwork to be attached to.

The Box, aptly named as it has essentially been built as a box within a box, houses a 500-person capacity multi-purpose performance facility, a foyer with a mezzanine level, meeting rooms and a breakout space – all of which feature SterlingOSB Zero. Larry Priest, a partner at BPN Architects, commented, “It is an engineered board that gives the interior a really nice orange quality; it’s sustainable, decorative, has a low surface spread of flame and worked acoustically.”

The SterlingOSB Zero panels were fitted together in what Adam Mottershead, acoustic advisor to FarGo Village, describes as an “OSB sandwich”. An 18mm panel of SterlingOSB Zero OSB 3 Tongue & Groove provided the thick outer layer while a 15mm panel of SterlingOSB Zero OSB 3 was used for the inner layer. A 12.5mm thick plasterboard filling was fitted in between the two panels to create the “OSB sandwich”. Mottershead continued, “The SterlingOSB Zero sandwich is a cost-effective way to squeeze as much acoustic performance as possible out of the construction of both the ceiling and walls”. 

BPN Architects, the design team and contractor agreed that Norbord’s SterlingOSB Zero was a dynamic solution which enabled them to create a special performing arts place.