For projects in Abu Dhabi
School and classroom acoustics in Abu Dhabi
Hard floors, bare walls and long corridors that amplify everything. Children with developing language, and anyone with a hearing difficulty, lose more from a live classroom than adults do, which is why intelligibility is the target rather than quiet. International school campuses are new, highly glazed and built to a tight programme. Sports halls, atria and lecture spaces are the rooms that need treating.
- Classroom RT
- A number, set against room volume, achieved mostly at the ceiling.
- Corridor spill
- Long hard circulation feeds every room off it. Treating the corridor helps every classroom at once.
- Halls and gyms
- Dual use rooms carrying speech, music and sport, where durability decides the product.
- Quote
- From a plan and a section, within 48 hours
01 / The material
What this is, and what it changes in a Abu Dhabi room
Hard floors, bare walls and long corridors that amplify everything. Children with developing language, and anyone with a hearing difficulty, lose more from a live classroom than adults do, which is why intelligibility is the target rather than quiet.
International school campuses are new, highly glazed and built to a tight programme. Sports halls, atria and lecture spaces are the rooms that need treating.
Work reaching us from Abu Dhabi is mostly hotels, cultural and institutional buildings, villas, offices, clinics, schools, studios.
- Short sea leg from India Western Indian ports to the UAE is a short run. That is the practical reason a factory in India can hold an Abu Dhabi programme date, and it is why we quote sea rather than air for most orders.
- Concrete and glass, sealed all year Blockwork and full glazing with the building closed up against the heat gives a hard, live interior and a lot of mechanical noise with nowhere to go.
- Submittals and samples Most work here goes through a consultant. Send us the specification and we will tell you where our material sits against it and where it does not, in writing.
- Classroom RT A number, set against room volume, achieved mostly at the ceiling.
Full specification
Thickness, density, NRC by frequency, fire class, standard sizes and build-up detail for school acoustics are on the main product page. This page covers what that means for a project in Abu Dhabi.
02 / The build-up
What goes where, from the structure in
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Layer 1
PET felt acoustic panels
A rigid non-woven panel pressed from 100% polyester fibre, a large part of it recycled. In Abu Dhabi, district cooling and large AHU plant run continuously. Duct attenuation, plant room lining and riser treatment do the work.
Over a porous backing. Panel over mineral or PET backing where the room needs genuine low mid control.
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Layer 2
Ceiling baffles and clouds
PET felt suspended from the soffit, vertically as baffles or horizontally as clouds. In Abu Dhabi, hotel ballrooms, mosques and conference centres are tall hard volumes where a long tail defeats the speech system before anyone hears a word.
Horizontal clouds. Flat rafts over the occupied zone, which also reflect early speech energy back down where it helps.
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Layer 3
Acoustic carpet and rugs
A tile carpet with a dense polyester face on a felt backing. In Abu Dhabi, international school campuses are new, highly glazed and built to a tight programme. Sports halls, atria and lecture spaces are the rooms that need treating.
Loose lay on tackifier. Tiles lifted individually for access under a raised floor, which is why tile beats broadloom in an office.
We would rather argue about the build-up at design stage than on site. See how we support architects.
03 / In this market
The Abu Dhabi conditions that change the answer
- Short sea leg from India
Western Indian ports to the UAE is a short run. That is the practical reason a factory in India can hold an Abu Dhabi programme date, and it is why we quote sea rather than air for most orders.
- Concrete and glass, sealed all year
Blockwork and full glazing with the building closed up against the heat gives a hard, live interior and a lot of mechanical noise with nowhere to go.
- Submittals and samples
Most work here goes through a consultant. Send us the specification and we will tell you where our material sits against it and where it does not, in writing.
- MEP noise is the quiet problem
Heavy cooling loads mean large plant close to occupied space. Ducts, risers and plant rooms cause more complaints than anything in the room itself.
- Assembly and performance rooms
Hotel ballrooms, mosques and conference centres are tall hard volumes where a long tail defeats the speech system before anyone hears a word.
- School and campus buildings
International school campuses are new, highly glazed and built to a tight programme. Sports halls, atria and lecture spaces are the rooms that need treating.
04 / Room by room
Room by room, on a typical Abu Dhabi job
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Classroom RT
A number, set against room volume, achieved mostly at the ceiling. Western Indian ports to the UAE is a short run. That is the practical reason a factory in India can hold an Abu Dhabi programme date, and it is why we quote sea rather than air for most orders.
- PET felt acoustic panels, 100% PET non-woven, no added binder
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 20 mm
- Acoustic panels, Cut pattern in PET felt, adds visual rhythm without changing the absorber
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Corridor spill
Long hard circulation feeds every room off it. Treating the corridor helps every classroom at once. Blockwork and full glazing with the building closed up against the heat gives a hard, live interior and a lot of mechanical noise with nowhere to go.
- PET felt acoustic panels, 9, 12, 18 and 24 mm standard, tolerance plus or minus 5 percent
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 400 kg per cubic metre
- Acoustic panels, ASTM C423
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Halls and gyms
Dual use rooms carrying speech, music and sport, where durability decides the product. Most work here goes through a consultant. Send us the specification and we will tell you where our material sits against it and where it does not, in writing.
- PET felt acoustic panels, 4 to 24 mm
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 0.30
- Acoustic panels, 9 to 24 mm, 1220 x 2440 mm standard, up to 2440 x 4270 mm, 1200 to 3600 GSM
Interior designers tend to arrive with the look already decided. We will tell you which finish gets there without losing the acoustics. See how we work with interior designers.
04 / Durability
Why the climate in Abu Dhabi changes the material, not the target
Abu Dhabi is hot and dry for most of the year, with dust and high daytime surface temperatures, and that narrows the material list before acoustics is discussed.
Dust is the enemy of open-cell products. PET felt does not shed, does not hold dust in the way fabric-wrapped glass wool does, and wipes down. Timber needs a stable indoor RH or it moves.
The failure we design against here is dust ingress and thermal movement in long runs.
Where a consultant is already engaged on a Abu Dhabi project, we supply to their specification and send the test reports rather than describing them. More on working with acoustic consultants.
06 / Straight talk
Where this kind of project usually fails
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Panels at child height where they get damaged
It sounds like a small detail until the room is finished and the complaint arrives.
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Treating one classroom and leaving the corridor
This is the one that comes back as a second fit-out rather than a snag.
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Choosing a product that cannot take a football
Enclose the machine, break the vibration path, then deal with what is left. Doing it in the other order costs more and achieves less.
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Treating it as a generic Abu Dhabi job
Western Indian ports to the UAE is a short run. That is the practical reason a factory in India can hold an Abu Dhabi programme date, and it is why we quote sea rather than air for most orders.
05 / Getting it there
Supply into Abu Dhabi, start to site
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Khalifa Port or Jebel Ali, then road to site |
| Dispatch | 4 to 7 working days |
| Freight | Sea via Khalifa Port |
| Support | Drawings, build-ups, BOQ and material that arrives complete |
Standard items dispatch in 4 to 7 working days. Grooved panels and custom colours take longer, and we say so before you order.
Sea freight into Khalifa Port or Jebel Ali, then road to site. The short transit means sea works for most programmes. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
Questions from Abu Dhabi projects
What makes school and classroom acoustics different in Abu Dhabi?
International school campuses are new, highly glazed and built to a tight programme. Sports halls, atria and lecture spaces are the rooms that need treating. Western Indian ports to the UAE is a short run. That is the practical reason a factory in India can hold an Abu Dhabi programme date, and it is why we quote sea rather than air for most orders.
Where should the budget go first on a Abu Dhabi project?
Classroom RT. A number, set against room volume, achieved mostly at the ceiling. Corridor spill. Long hard circulation feeds every room off it. Treating the corridor helps every classroom at once.
Do you have an office or installation team in Abu Dhabi?
No. We manufacture in India and supply into Abu Dhabi. We give you drawings, build-ups, a BOQ and material that arrives complete, and we will tell you plainly when a job needs a local contractor we cannot be.
How does material get to a Abu Dhabi site?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Khalifa Port or Jebel Ali, then road to site, dispatch: 4 to 7 working days. Standard items dispatch in 4 to 7 working days. Grooved panels and custom colours take longer, and we say so before you order.
What goes wrong most often on this kind of project?
Panels at child height where they get damaged. Treating one classroom and leaving the corridor.
What do you need from us to quote?
A plan, a section through the critical partition or ceiling, and what the room is for. From that we can give a build-up and a BOQ rather than a price per square foot.
Next step
Tell us the room, we will tell you the build-up
We quote from drawings, not from a square foot rate. Send a plan and the section through the critical wall or ceiling and you will get something you can actually build from.