Dorma Variflex Manual Acoustic moveable wall - St Mary's Church, Essex

St Mary the Virgin Church in Henham, Essex, is an Evangelical Anglican parish church situated at the western end of the village, with a modern extension providing facilities for broader community events.

Partitioning expert Style was contracted to work with Freeland Rees Roberts Architects and Punch Construction to deliver flexible space to the main function area.

Style installed two Dorma Huppe Variflex moveable walls enabling the area to be divided into three separate rooms, one large and one small room, or left as a completely open plan space.

With effortless, smooth operation, these light walls can be opened and closed quickly and easily, and their exceptional 55dB acoustic ratings mean concurrent events can take place undisturbed from one another.

There is evidence to suggest that there has been a church on this site in the village of Henham since Saxon times and part of the current building certainly dates from the 12th century. The sympathetic new extension caters for a wide range of events including youth groups, activities, meetings and music, and a key criteria was that multiple events could be hosted at the same time without sound interference.

“The acoustic ratings of these Variflex moveable walls makes them an ideal choice for churches, where noisy activities may be taking place in one room while prayer is taking place in another,” said Michael Porter, Style’s group managing director.

“It’s for this reason why we have installed so many of these exceptional moveable walls in religious buildings as they offer extensive room flexibility and important privacy.”

Another advantage of the Variflex is that the panels are manufactured separately to the frame, which means that the panel linings are easy to change if one is damaged or scuffed.

This saves both time and money in busy public environments because if a panel is knocked or scratched it can be quicky exchanged for a new one.