How to improve acoustics, depending on the type of space?



Service/commercial sector



Conversations, everyday noises (telephones ringing, footsteps, moving furniture), humming of equipment (printers, air conditioning units) or sounds coming from outside (cars, construction work) create noise pollution in working environments. Many businesses experience acoustic problems, in particular confidentiality or reverberation issues. Acoustic treatment and the design of the work areas are necessary in order to improve intelligibility concentration and productivity whilst limiting stress and tiredness. Good noise management improves the commitment and performance of employees.
Texdecor offers a wide range of solutions for all these needs : on ceilings, walls or as dividers to meet all the requirements in the layout of buildings.


Open-plan workspaces
collection de panneaux acoustiques AirPanel 1 face
AirPanel 1 Side, ceiling-mounted with slings

In open-plan offices, it is difficult to treat the wall surfaces as they are few and far from the users. Therefore, installing suspended acoustic panels above the workstations or acoustic totems are the most effective solutions in this type of situation.


It is also possible to partition the spaces to make them more private. The AirPanel BiFace acoustic panels are an alternative to acoustic partitions. More welcoming, they dynamise and soften the space with their colours and different shapes.

collection de panneaux acoustiques AirPanel 2 faces
AirPanel 2 Faces, lateral mounting with cables
Offices



These are much smaller spaces. The soundwaves rapidly hit the wall surfaces creating a “ping pong” effect known as floating echoes. Therefore, a solution incorporating acoustic panels would absorb part of the sound wave with a complementary solution on the ceiling to treat sound sources above the offices.

SlimPanel, M concept backlit | EPE offices, Miremont, SlimPanel, F concept and AirPanel 1 Face, ceiling mounted with slings and rails
Meeting rooms



In addition to acoustic absorption problems, wear caused by customer traffic creates premature wear on the wall surfaces. It is therefore recommended to improve the room’s acoustics with acoustic wallcoverings but also above the meeting table by means of suspended panels to be in proximity to the users.

Creadesign offices, Soft acoustic wallcovering | IAE meeting room Lille, AirPanel 1 Face, wall and ceiling mounted on rails with integrated lighting


Hospitality



Customer satisfaction for a hotel depends on the quality of the service and the comfort of the establishment. This last criterion does not only concern the layout of the bedrooms but also the communal areas, restaurants, lobbies, meeting areas which must all guarantee good acoustic comfort. As a hotel is exposed to several types of noise, there a variety of solution to reduce them, including acoustic correction.

An estimated 54% of French people complain about noise. Annoying and sometime unbearable, it affects both mood and health. Hotels are no exception to this criticism. When a hotel does not provide good acoustic comfort, it can have an impact on the quality of sleep of the guests. There are many areas that cause noise pollution.


Restaurants


Noises from equipment (kitchens, cutlery) and conversations that are responsible for the acoustic discomfort. When the acoustics are not addressed, customers need to be louder to be understood, amplifying the sound volume and the unpleasant impression of a permanent cacophony, making the pace uncomfortable and tiring. This is the “Lombard” effect, commonly called the “cocktail effect”. Acoustic wallcoverings will correct high frequencies but will also limit the premature wear and tear on the walls and decorate the space. For optimal acoustic comfort, they should be combined with acoustic panels to treat the sound source above the tables and correct the medium and low frequencies of conversations.


Le Sebastopol restaurant, Lille , AirPanel 1 Face, ceiling-mounted on slings | Les terrasses de Pommiers restaurant, Pommiers, AirPanel 1 Face plains & customised print, wall-mounted on rails


Communal areas


In order to respect the regulations concerning the width of communal areas and especially corridors, acoustic wall panels are not ideal, acoustic correction using wallcoverings remain the best solution. In general a carpet is laid on the floor to limit the noise from footsteps and traffic. Even if this absorbs it a little, to guarantee acoustic comfort and to respect the acoustic regulations, but most importantly to avoid floating echoes between 2 opposing walls, it is necessary to treat the wall surfaces with decoration and hard-wearing acoustic wallcovering. For large communal areas such as lobbies with highly reverberant surfaces (no carpet or acoustic tiles) suspended acoustic panels are an essential addition to wallcoverings.



Co-working or seminar areas



Like meeting rooms, in addition to acoustic absorption problems, wear caused by customer traffic creates premature wear on the wall surfaces. It is therefore recommended to improve the room’s acoustics with acoustic wallcoverings but also above the work tables by means of suspended panels to be in proximity to the users. For large spaces it is also possible to treat the walls using acoustic panels.



Education



Educational buildings and all other public buildings must be built and equipped in such a way as to limit noise inside the buildings, by means of acoustic insulation with regards to the exterior and between rooms, to obtain good acoustic conditions, in addition to limiting the noise created by the buildings’ equipment. The decree of 9th January 1995, applicable since January 1996, sets insulation values, noise levels and the duration of reverberation to be respected.
Before this date, these criteria were simply recommendations from the Education Authority.
These measures cover all educational establishments (nursery and primary schools, secondary education, universities and higher education) whether public or private. Only new buildings are concerned. Older renovated or restored buildings are covered by other regulations.


Classrooms


It is essential to treat the ceiling using acoustic panels, and several options are possible. In addition acoustic wallpanels can also be used to improve intelligibility. In amphitheatres with large walls surfaces, wall protection by means of a hardwearing acoustic wallcovering is also a good additional absorbent, particularly for high frequencies.

La Salle Passy Buzenval high school, Rueil Malmaison, AirPanel 1 Face hexagonal, ceiling-mounted on slings s | Screening room, Institut de Genech, Vinacoustic Abaca acoustic wallcovering
Refectories


Noises from equipment (kitchens, cutlery) and conversations that are responsible for the acoustic comfort.. Acoustic wallcoverings will correct high frequencies but will also limit the premature wear and tear on the walls and decorate the space. They should be combined with acoustic panels to treat closer to the sound source and correct the medium and low frequencies of conversations.

Self-service restaurant at the hospital, Roubaix, Vinacoustic Abaca acoustic wallcovering | Self-service restaurant Ecole Pasteur, Garches, SlimPanel, Baffles


Multi-function rooms

collection de panneaux acoustiques AirPanel 1 face
Espace Boulinguez, Le Maisnil | AirPanel 1 Face, ceiling-mounted on slings

These are places where students gather for cultural or sports events or other celebrations. These rooms are very large and are often made of hard and highly-reverberant materials that increase the reverberation time (Tr). To reduce noise pollution, suspended acoustic panels are the solution to treat vocal noise and respond to the constraints of volume and usage.



Bars/Restaurants

Although many venues are equipped to make their acoustic pleasant, there are still too many establishments in France where acoustics are totally neglected. Indeed, correcting resonance is, for many restauranteurs, an additional expense that it not necessarily worthwhile. However, an excessive reverberation time will inevitably have negative effects on the way the clients perceive the restaurant and its food.
As a result, many guides and restaurant directories take the acoustic quality into account when rating establishments. More than ever, three many criteria are crucial when rating a restaurant: the food, the service and the overall sound and atmosphere of the space. People are more and more exposed to moise, acoustic comfort has become a critical factor in customer satisfaction.


Restaurant Le Sebastopol, Lille, AirPanel 1 Face, ceiling-mounted on slings | Restaurant Les Terrasses de Pommiers, Pommiers, AirPanel 1 Face plain & digital printing, wall-mounted on rails


Like hotel restaurants, noises from equipment (kitchens, cutlery) and conversations that are responsible for the acoustic discomfort. When the acoustics are not addressed, customers need to be louder to be understood, amplifying the sound volume and the unpleasant impression of a permanent cacophony, making the pace uncomfortable and tiring. This is the “Lombard” effect, commonly called the “cocktail effect”. Acoustic wallcoverings will correct high frequencies but will also limit the premature wear and tear on the walls and decorate the space. For optimal acoustic comfort, they should be combined with acoustic panels to treat close to the sound source above the tables and correct the medium and low frequencies of conversations.

Ceiling-mounted panels are the most effective solution. They trap the sound energy on all sides of the panel, especially if the vertical surfaces are tiled or glass.




Function and entertainment areas



With the large scale of function room, the acoustic challenge is to deal with both the background noise and the periodic sounds such as banging. It is not a question of deadening all the sounds but to avoid their endless reverberation by preventing the creation of echoes between walls; in addition, conversation at short range must remain intelligible without the participants having to shout; the aim is to create true acoustic comfort for the participants as well as the audience. The Texdecor solutions address these problems.


How to deal with these spaces ?


The durability of a heavy-duty acoustic wallcoverings such as Vinacoustic combined with the absorption capacity of our acoustic panels effectively meet all the acoustic requirements of a sports hall or multi-purpose halls. In addition, the decorative acoustic textile wallcoverings of the Eos and Signature collections are particularly well-adapted to cinemas or theatres.

Screening room, Institut de Genech, Vinacoustic Abaca acoustic wallcovering | Bastia Theatre, Eos color acoustic wallcovering