Acoustical Treatments for Commercial Business

When it comes to productivity in your business space, acoustics matter. If you’ve ever held a meeting at an overly noisy restaurant, worked in an open environment workspace, or endured a loud echo in a conference room, you know what we’re talking about. Acoustic treatments is a great way to add function and style to your commercial space.

When adding acoustic treatments to a workspace, it’s important to target reflection, reverberation, resonance, and noise transfer.

• Reflection happens when surfaces don’t absorb sound waves.
• Reverberation refers to when multiple sound waves bounce off hard surfaces, creating an echo sound. Reverberation can also cause decreased sound quality.
• Resonance is a bit different. Everything in a room vibrates at a natural frequency, even though we don’t realize this is happening. When a sound wave and an object with the same vibration rate encounter each other, the vibration is intensified, amplifying the sound.
• Noise transfer simply refers to how sounds pass from room to room and from space to space.

There are several options for adding acoustical treatments to any commercial space, and based on your sound and noise issues, your acoustical treatments can be customized to your space and needs.

Here’s a breakdown of some acoustical treatment options:

• Acoustic panels are often made from foam and are designed to absorb sound waves and decrease reverberations, reducing any echoes in a space. Acoustic panels are created to blend into a space’s décor, and they can even be made to look like artwork.
• Acoustic foam is a raw material that often resembles an egg container, and it can be placed on walls and ceilings to help trap sound. It is best used as a heavy-duty treatment for acoustical issues.
• Bass traps help absorb bass-like (low frequency) sounds in the corners of a space, and they can “trap” noise frequencies of all levels.
• Ceiling clouds are acoustic panels designed for use on ceilings. Ceiling clouds hang horizontally and are beneficial for spaces with high ceilings where reverberations can be stronger. They can also be designed to add to a space’s aesthetics, making them look like art, not acoustical treatments.
• Fiberglass insulation can help when sounds go from room to room and space to space, and it can be added to walls to help alleviate reverberation and other acoustical issues. Fiberglass insulation can also be used in corners, achieving similar results to brass traps.
• Diffuser panels do what their name suggests: Diffuse sound. While other acoustical treatments absorb sound, in some spaces, diffusing sound is all that’s needed, preventing a room from being too quiet. Diffuser panels cause sound waves to scatter randomly, and they can be used alone or with other acoustical treatments.

Depending on your needs, there is an acoustical treatment—or combination of treatments—that can bring the sound quality you’re wanting to your commercial space. Contact us to discuss your sound quality needs and how we can best meet those needs.