Rod wrote:

After discussing it with partner, I wondered if they could have
installed some sort of anti-noise device to reduce the sound levels in
the store?

Any suggestions? Any explanations?

A couple of possibilities spring to mind...

First if Bluewater is anything like lakeside (large covered concourse
area with shops that open directly onto it without the usual doors),
then you may experience unwanted effects from the changes in barometric
pressure. The AC is designed to keep the main concourse pressure
slightly higher than that in the shops. This ensures there is a nett
flow of air into the shop, so that should there be a fire in a shop the
smoke is contained in it and does not spill out into the shared area.

I find the subtle pressure changes experienced from more than about an
hour of walking in an out of shops there is enough to give me a headache.

Second possibility, some shopping centres employ a device known as the
mosquito:

http://www.kidsbegone.com/

This emits a loud constant whine at high frequency that is designed to
make it uncomfortable to congregate in close proximity to it for any
length of time. The intention being to cause groups of youths to not
loiter, and the (rather dodgy) assumption being that older shoppers
hearing will not longer have the high frequency sensitivity to hear it.

--
Cheers,

John.

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