ACOUSTICS
in Interior Design
Take a Holistic Approach to Acoustic Treatment
When addressing the acoustics of your space it’s helpful to first understand how sound works.
Sound Absorption
The dissipation of sound energy into a surface material.
Sound Reflection
The bouncing back of the sound wave upon striking a surface.
Sound Transmission
The penetration of sound energy through materials.
Sound waves are simply energy causing vibration at a given frequency. Sound waves can transmit through solid objects, gas, and liquid with varying efficiency. When sound waves come in contact with hard surfaces, they continue to bounce back into space until they eventually lose energy. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as reverberation.
Different surfaces have different levels of sound absorption and reflection. Hard surfaces (like drywall, stone, and glass) reflect a much greater amount of sound than a softer-textured or more porous surface (like our felt products).
When a sound wave reflects off of a surface in a room there is a slight delay between when the reflected sound and the direct sound waves reach our ears.
The two sound waves have the same source and starting point but because of this delay they reach the listener at different times, causing the frequencies to overlap in such a way that they cancel out.
This destructive interference is the reason why rooms with poor acoustics are burdened by muddled sounds and annoying echoes.
Because the walls in small spaces are closer together, the reflecting sound waves are more likely to interfere with one another, dramatically reducing clarity in conversations.
Acoustically treating a room with wall panels, baffles, and clouds increases sound absorption, reduces destructive interference, and improves the clarity of conversation in small spaces.
Large rooms often deal with sound distortion due to increased reverberation time. More materials are typically needed when acoustically treating a large space. Treating large rooms can be done with minimal construction by using acoustic dividers, ACT replacements, and acoustic wall cladding.
How We Diagnose Acoustics
Zones of Flow and Mobility create a noise emission conflict in commercial spaces, especially during peak business hours. In the past, the use of high-end finishes such as stone, aluminum and glass created a sense of luxury, but also produced a strong reverberation effect.
We identify opportunities to incorporate sound-absorbent materials into the ceilings, walls and space dividers of the environment that dampen noise emissions as people move through it.
In the post-pandemic era, Video Conference Rooms have become the most important spaces to protect from noise emission and reverberation.
The end goal of our in-depth site analysis has always been to transform existing vulnerable spaces into protected acoustic sanctuaries. We bring the power to articulate a layer of acoustic finishes that fit your brand, adding both functionality and a spark of identity to your space.
Open Working Areas are becoming more common as the corporate environment evolves, making free-standing buffers and suspended acoustic elements an important element to enhance the work activity without creating walls and boundaries. Transparency and noise dampening are the challenges that we analyze and resolve as we work through the space with you.
