Acoustic Panelling

What acoustic panelling covers

Acoustic panelling covers the range of installed products that absorb sound energy inside a room to reduce reverberation and improve speech intelligibility: wall panels (mineral wool, glass wool or fabric-wrapped panels fixed to wall surfaces), suspended rafts (free-hanging horizontal acoustic absorbers suspended from the soffit), baffles (vertically hung acoustic absorbers typically arranged in parallel rows), ceiling clouds (acoustic panels suspended at lower heights in social and informal environments) and modular acoustic ceiling systems (high-performance tile in standard or concealed grids). The trade addresses the acoustic quality inside a room rather than the transmission of sound between rooms, which is the function of acoustic partitions and sealing.

Acoustic panelling has expanded significantly as a separate trade specialism over the last fifteen years because modern commercial interiors (open-plan offices with hard finishes, industrial facilities with exposed services, education buildings with atrium social space) routinely generate reverberation problems that standard suspended ceilings alone cannot resolve. The product range (free-hanging rafts, baffles, clouds and wall panels) fills the gap between the acoustic contribution of a standard ceiling tile and the acoustic performance required by the space.

Reverberation, absorption and panel specification

Reverberation time (RT) is the number of seconds it takes for a sound to decay by 60 dB after the source stops. Hard surfaces reflect rather than absorb: a room lined with concrete, glass and plasterboard has a long RT; speech overlaps with its own reflections and becomes difficult to understand. The appropriate RT depends on the room use: classrooms typically target 0.4 to 0.8 seconds under Building Bulletin 93; open-plan offices typically 0.4 to 0.6 seconds; industrial production areas are specified case by case depending on machinery noise levels and the required speech intelligibility.

Acoustic panels absorb sound energy at their surface rather than reflecting it. The absorption coefficient (alpha, α) of a panel describes the fraction of incident sound energy absorbed at each frequency, from 0 (perfectly reflective) to 1.0 (perfectly absorptive). Class A absorbers (αw weighted 0.90 to 1.00) are the highest performance category and are the standard specification for suspended rafts and baffles. The acoustic area required to hit a target RT is calculated from the room volume, the existing surface-material absorption data and the target RT, using the Sabine or Eyring formulae. We model the brief before specifying the panel quantity so the scheme is designed to achieve the target RT, not simply to add panels.

Systems we install

Ecophon Solo rafts and baffles

Ecophon Solo is a free-hanging acoustic absorber in square, rectangle, circle and bespoke shaped formats: high-performance glass wool core with a glass tissue facing, Class A absorption (αw 0.85 to 1.00). Solo is the most frequently installed product in our acoustic portfolio.

As a horizontal raft, Solo Rectangle and Solo Square panels are suspended below the structural soffit or above a base ceiling on adjustable suspension kits, typically at 2.4 to 3.5 m in commercial environments. Rafts absorb from both faces and add acoustic area efficiently in rooms where a full ceiling tile is not specified. We have installed Ecophon Solo Rectangle rafts at Northampton Museum and Art Gallery (shoe gallery and café) and Ecophon Solo rafts at Aston Student Union in Birmingham, sloped to follow the roof geometry above the social space.

As a vertical baffle, Solo panels are suspended on wire or steel carrier systems in parallel rows below the soffit. The vertical orientation absorbs across both horizontal and vertical sound paths, which makes baffles particularly effective in high volumes: industrial production halls, sports facilities, food and beverage interiors and any space where a horizontal raft would be too low or too dominant. We installed over 900 Ecophon Solo acoustic baffles in the production hall at Glenair in Mansfield before machinery installation, a large-volume industrial acoustic treatment delivered inside a working factory. We have also installed Ecophon acoustic baffles in corridors at Pioneer Park Dock 2 in Leicester.

Ecophon Akusto wall panels

Ecophon Akusto is a fabric-wrapped wall panel with a high-performance glass wool core, available in a large range of fabric colours and finishes. Wall panels are used where floor or ceiling area cannot accept sufficient absorption to hit the target RT, or where the designer wants to distribute absorption at mid-height. Akusto is specified in meeting rooms, offices, corridors and social areas alongside Solo rafts or baffles in higher-specification acoustic schemes.

Ecophon Master ceiling tile

Ecophon Master is a modular acoustic ceiling tile in standard 600 × 600 and 1200 × 600 formats, combining Class A absorption with the access of a standard exposed-grid ceiling system. It is specified as the base acoustic ceiling on many of our projects where the grid and tile specification is performance-led rather than cost-led: healthcare circulation, education rooms with high acoustic targets, and open-plan offices where the tile rather than a supplementary raft carries the acoustic brief.

Hunter Douglas Heartfelt

Hunter Douglas Heartfelt is a felt-based suspended ceiling and panel system using 100% PET felt (typically from recycled content) in linear baton or panel formats. Heartfelt panels absorb sound while presenting a warm, textile visual language suited to cultural, hospitality, education and corporate interiors. We installed Hunter Douglas Heartfelt to the main walkway at Northampton Museum and Art Gallery as part of a combined acoustic and architectural ceiling scheme that included Ecophon Solo Rectangle rafts and porcelain tile.

Rockfon and Rockwool acoustic systems

Rockfon (the Rockwool Group ceiling brand) produces stone wool acoustic ceiling tiles and wall panels with Class A and Class B absorption ratings. Rockfon tiles are specified where stone wool is the preferred substrate (typically for reaction-to-fire or sustainability reasons). We install Rockfon ceiling tile and wall-panel systems as part of our wider acoustic ceiling portfolio.

Bespoke and shaped acoustic systems

Bespoke shaped acoustic work covers circles, hexagons, trapezoids and custom free-form panel shapes, typically from Ecophon, Hunter Douglas or specialist fabricators. Shaped panels are specified in cultural, hospitality and higher-education interiors where the acoustic scheme is also a design feature. They are made to order with longer lead times than standard product; we recommend confirming the shape and size early in the design stage.

Sectors we deliver acoustic panelling for

In industrial fit-out, acoustic baffles are the dominant product: the production hall at Glenair in Mansfield received over 900 Ecophon Solo baffles before machinery was installed, a pre-emptive acoustic treatment designed to hold the measured RT at a level compatible with speech intelligibility in the production environment. Industrial acoustic retrofit (post-machinery) is also part of our scope but pre-installation treatment is substantially more cost-effective.

In higher education, acoustic rafts and wall panels appear in student social space, open-plan study, library, café and multi-use learning environments where exposed services aesthetics and long reverberation times combine to create speech intelligibility problems. The Aston Student Union installation and the Northampton Museum and Art Gallery scheme are examples of high-specification cultural acoustic work.

In offices, acoustic rafts and baffles are specified in open-plan environments where the standard suspended ceiling tile is not enough to hit the target RT, in meeting rooms alongside the standard partition package, and in breakout, café and social areas where reverberation and background-noise interaction is the dominant complaint.

In education (primary and secondary), acoustic panelling appears in school halls, dining rooms, sports facilities and music suites where the hard-surface acoustic environment cannot be resolved by the ceiling alone. Building Bulletin 93 sets the design target; the acoustic panel scheme is designed to deliver it.

In healthcare, acoustic wall panels and ceiling clouds appear in waiting areas, rehabilitation spaces and any clinical room where reverberation affects patient comfort and speech intelligibility between clinician and patient.

In leisure and cultural buildings, acoustic rafts, baffles and wall panels are used in gyms, food and beverage venues, hotel lobbies and museum and gallery spaces where the architectural brief requires exposed services or hard finishes but the acoustic brief requires reverberation control.

Why Eastledge for acoustic panelling

We have been installing commercial ceilings and acoustic systems since 1986, working from our Derby head office and delivering across the UK. Acoustic panelling sits inside our ceiling and dry-lining specialism and is delivered by the same crews that install mineral fibre, timber and metal ceiling systems, which means the acoustic scheme is sequenced into the wider fit-out programme by people who understand M&E integration, access scaffolding and the handover to the principal contractor. We employ our own fixers and supervisors directly. We have documented Ecophon Solo (rafts, baffles and ceiling systems) at Glenair Mansfield, Aston Student Union, Pioneer Park Dock 2 and Northampton Museum and Art Gallery, and Hunter Douglas Heartfelt at Northampton Museum and Art Gallery. We model the acoustic brief before specification and design the scheme to deliver the target reverberation time.

If you are scoping an acoustic panelling installation (rafts, baffles, wall panels, ceiling clouds or a combined acoustic scheme), we would be glad to discuss the brief. Send drawings, a reverberation brief or a few site photos with the form on this page and we will come back with a clear next step within one working day. For urgent enquiries call 01332 757830 or email enquiries@eastledge.co.uk.