Question 1

What is acoustic panelling?

Accepted Answer

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, acoustic foam or fabric-wrapped panels fixed to wall surfaces), suspended rafts (free-hanging horizontal acoustic absorbers suspended below the structural soffit or above a base ceiling), baffles (vertically hung acoustic absorbers typically arranged in parallel rows to absorb across both horizontal and vertical sound paths), ceiling clouds (acoustic panels suspended at lower heights in social and informal environments) and ceiling systems (modular acoustic tile in a standard or concealed grid). The trade is distinct from acoustic partitions and sealing, which control sound passing between rooms rather than the acoustic quality inside a room.

Question 2

What is reverberation time and why does it matter?

Accepted Answer

Reverberation time (RT or T20/T30 in measurement) is the duration it takes for a sound to decay by 60 dB after the source stops. In a room with hard, reflective surfaces (concrete, glass, plasterboard) reverberation time is long: speech reflects off surfaces, overlaps with the next syllable, and becomes difficult to understand. In a room with too much absorption, reverberation is too short and the space sounds uncomfortably dead. The appropriate RT depends on the room use: classrooms typically target 0.4 to 0.8 seconds under BB93; offices and open-plan work environments typically target 0.4 to 0.6 seconds; industrial production areas where machinery noise and speech intelligibility are both concerns are specified case by case. Acoustic panelling adds absorption to bring RT down.

Question 3

What is an acoustic raft?

Accepted Answer

An acoustic raft is a free-hanging horizontal acoustic absorber, typically a rectangular or shaped panel of high-performance mineral wool (Class A absorption, αw typically 0.85 to 1.00) suspended below the structural soffit or above a base ceiling on hangers or cables, usually at a height of 2.4 to 3.5 m in commercial environments. Rafts are specified where a standard suspended tile ceiling is not wanted (exposed services aesthetic, architectural feature soffit, sloped or vaulted roof), but where reverberation control is still required. They absorb sound from both faces, add acoustic area efficiently, and are demountable for service access above. We have installed Ecophon Solo Rectangle rafts at Northampton Museum and Art Gallery (shoe gallery and café), Ecophon Solo rafts at Aston Student Union (sloped to roof in the social space), and Ecophon acoustic rafts at Pioneer Park Dock 2.

Question 4

What is an acoustic baffle?

Accepted Answer

An acoustic baffle is a vertically hung acoustic absorber, typically a rectangular panel of high-performance mineral wool suspended by cables, wires or a steel carrier system below the structural soffit. Baffles absorb sound across both horizontal and vertical paths (the vertical orientation exposes a greater surface area to sound arriving from oblique angles) and are effective in high volumes, industrial halls, sports facilities, food and beverage interiors and any space where a horizontal raft would be too low or too visually 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 inside a working factory. We also installed Ecophon acoustic baffles in corridors at Pioneer Park Dock 2 in Leicester.

Question 5

What is the Ecophon Solo system?

Accepted Answer

Ecophon Solo is a free-hanging acoustic absorber product family manufactured by Saint-Gobain Ecophon: high-performance glass wool core with a glass tissue facing, available in square, rectangle, circle and bespoke shaped formats. Solo panels are Class A absorbers (αw 0.85 to 1.00 depending on size and mounting). They are available in over 40 colours, with white, light grey and black the volume specifications on our projects. Solo is the single most specified product in our acoustic baffle and raft portfolio; it has been installed by us at Glenair Mansfield, Aston Student Union, Pioneer Park Dock 2 and Northampton Museum and Art Gallery. Ecophon also supply the Akusto wall panel (fabric-wrapped wall absorber for meeting rooms, social areas and corridors), the Master ceiling tile (modular ceiling tile with Class A absorption in a standard or concealed grid) and the Gedina edge-strip system; all are within our installation scope.

Question 6

What does acoustic panelling cost per square metre?

Accepted Answer

Industry pricing guides and our own project costs place acoustic baffle and raft supply-and-install broadly in the range of £80 to £200+ per m² of panel area, depending on system, panel size, suspension method, finish and access. Ecophon Solo rectangle rafts and standard baffles sit at the lower end of the specialist range; shaped, coloured and large-format panels with bespoke suspension are at the upper end. The acoustic area required to achieve a target RT depends on the room volume and existing surface finishes, so the cost per room is driven by acoustic design before panel selection. We model the reverberation brief before specifying the panel quantity, which removes over-specification waste.

Question 7

Can acoustic panelling be added to an existing room?

Accepted Answer

Yes, acoustic panelling is one of the most effective refurbishment interventions for rooms with reverberation problems, because it adds absorption to existing surfaces without requiring structural alteration. Typical applications are open-plan offices that are too reverberant after fit-out, school dining halls and sports halls where the acoustic environment has deteriorated, industrial welfare and meeting rooms alongside production space, and cultural and hospitality spaces where the room becomes unusable at capacity. We survey the room, calculate the existing and target RT, specify the panel area and product, and install.

Question 8

What is Ecophon Akusto and when is it used?

Accepted Answer

Ecophon Akusto is a fabric-wrapped wall panel (high-performance glass wool core with a choice of fabric facings) designed for wall-mounted acoustic absorption in offices, meeting rooms, social areas and corridors. It is used where the floor or ceiling area cannot accept sufficient absorption to hit the target RT, or where the designer wants to distribute absorption at mid-height across the wall rather than concentrating it in the ceiling plane. Akusto is available in a large range of fabric colours and can be printed or upholstered for bespoke feature applications. It is used alongside Solo rafts or baffles in higher-specification acoustic schemes.

Question 9

How do you calculate how many acoustic panels are needed?

Accepted Answer

Acoustic design starts with the room geometry (volume, floor area, surface areas) and the existing surface-material absorption coefficients, from which the current reverberation time is modelled using the Sabine or Eyring formulae. The target RT for the room use drives the additional absorption area required. The panel product is selected (Solo, Akusto, Master, or another manufacturer's equivalent) based on its published absorption coefficient at the relevant frequencies. Panel count and coverage area are then back-calculated. Over-specified rooms feel uncomfortably dead; under-specified rooms fail to hit the target. We model the brief before specification and design the scheme to deliver the target RT.

Question 10

Can acoustic panelling be installed in occupied buildings?

Accepted Answer

Yes, acoustic panelling installs well in occupied buildings because it is a light, cable-suspended system with no wet trades. Constraints are safe working at height (typically mobile access platforms or scissor lifts), coordination with existing services above the ceiling void, and noise and dust control during hole-drilling for anchor points. We sequence the install out-of-hours or in phased zones for occupied schools, offices and leisure buildings, with an access plan agreed at pre-start.

Acoustic Panelling in Liverpool

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