For projects in Barcelona
Recording studio acoustics and soundproofing in Barcelona
Two jobs that must not be confused: keeping the building out, and making the room honest inside. The first is mass and decoupling and has to be built first. The second is absorption and diffusion and can be tuned later. Studios sit inside residential blocks, so the neighbour above matters more than the room treatment.
- Isolation
- A measured background level, agreed before anything is bought.
- Low frequency
- Corner and boundary absorption with real depth, not surface foam.
- Early reflections
- Controlled at the mix position, and only there.
- Quote
- From a plan and a section, within 48 hours
01 / What it is
The material, and what it actually does on a Barcelona job
Two jobs that must not be confused: keeping the building out, and making the room honest inside. The first is mass and decoupling and has to be built first. The second is absorption and diffusion and can be tuned later.
Studios sit inside residential blocks, so the neighbour above matters more than the room treatment.
Work reaching us from Barcelona is mostly eixample apartments, hotels and short lets, restaurants, offices, clinics, studios.
- Eixample blocks share everything Flats stacked around an interior courtyard with tiled floors and hard plaster. Sound moves between homes through the structure and across the patio.
- Tourism conversions Apartments turned into short lets put beds either side of walls that were never separating walls. Doors and corridors cause most complaints.
- Late streets Venues and terraces operate late underneath homes, so containment decides how long they trade.
- Isolation A measured background level, agreed before anything is bought.
Full specification
Thickness, density, NRC by frequency, fire class, standard sizes and build-up detail for studio soundproofing are on the main product page. This page covers what that means for a project in Barcelona.
02 / The build-up
What goes where, from the structure in
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Layer 1
Acoustic foam and BassBloc
Open cell foam shapes for high frequency control, and BassBloc, a high density absorber built for the low mid range where ordinary foam does nothing. In Barcelona, split and multi-split systems dominate, with condensers in patios and light wells that act as reverberant shafts.
Corner loading. Low frequency energy collects in corners, so absorber in the corners does more than the same area spread across a wall.
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Layer 2
SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl
A limp, high density sheet that adds mass to a partition, floor or duct without adding depth. In Barcelona, churches, civic auditoriums and hotel function rooms are stone and plaster volumes with very long decay times.
Duct and plant wrap. Membrane wrapped over the duct with a decoupling layer beneath, sealed at every lap.
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Layer 3
Soundproof curtains
A layered curtain with a mass loaded vinyl core, used where an opening has to stay an opening. In Barcelona, school buildings are concrete and tile with high ceilings and hard floors, and dining halls are the loudest rooms in the building.
Track with a seal. Ceiling track plus a floor seal or drape, so the perimeter is closed when it is drawn.
If you are specifying for a Barcelona project, we can give you a section, a BOQ and the honest limits of each layer. See how we support architects.
03 / In this market
What the buildings in Barcelona do to the specification
- Eixample blocks share everything
Flats stacked around an interior courtyard with tiled floors and hard plaster. Sound moves between homes through the structure and across the patio.
- Tourism conversions
Apartments turned into short lets put beds either side of walls that were never separating walls. Doors and corridors cause most complaints.
- Late streets
Venues and terraces operate late underneath homes, so containment decides how long they trade.
- The port is at the city
Direct sea into Barcelona keeps the road leg short and the landed cost predictable.
- The housing stock
The Ensanche and equivalent city blocks stack flats around a patio with shared walls and slabs. Footfall and speech move between homes, which is a mass and isolation problem.
- The studio and content scene
Studios sit inside residential blocks, so the neighbour above matters more than the room treatment.
04 / Room by room
Room by room, on a typical Barcelona job
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Isolation
A measured background level, agreed before anything is bought. Flats stacked around an interior courtyard with tiled floors and hard plaster. Sound moves between homes through the structure and across the patio.
- Acoustic foam and BassBloc, 1800 x 900 mm
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, STC 30, 5.25 kg per sq m
- Acoustic panels, Cut pattern in PET felt, adds visual rhythm without changing the absorber
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Low frequency
Corner and boundary absorption with real depth, not surface foam. Apartments turned into short lets put beds either side of walls that were never separating walls. Doors and corridors cause most complaints.
- Acoustic foam and BassBloc, 20 mm
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, STC 34, 8.4 kg per sq m
- Acoustic panels, ASTM C423
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Early reflections
Controlled at the mix position, and only there. Venues and terraces operate late underneath homes, so containment decides how long they trade.
- Acoustic foam and BassBloc, 100 kg per cubic metre
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, 12.6 kg per sq m, STC on request
- Acoustic panels, 9 to 24 mm, 1220 x 2440 mm standard, up to 2440 x 4270 mm, 1200 to 3600 GSM
If the visual is fixed and the room still has to perform, that is a solvable problem and a conversation worth having early. See how we work with interior designers.
04 / Climate and durability
Durability in Barcelona, before acoustics is discussed
Barcelona is hot dry summers and mild wet winters, and that narrows the material list before acoustics is discussed.
The swing between a dry summer and a wet winter moves timber. PET felt is dimensionally stable across that swing; slat panels want a stable substrate and a ventilated fixing.
The failure we design against here is seasonal movement in timber and winter damp in unheated stock.
On a Barcelona job with a consultant involved, our part is material that matches the submitted data. See working with acoustic consultants.
06 / Read this first
The six errors that cost the most
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Buying foam to solve an isolation problem
It sounds like a small detail until the room is finished and the complaint arrives.
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Treating the room before the shell is isolated
This is the one that comes back as a second fit-out rather than a snag.
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Killing the room completely and calling it controlled
More absorption is not better absorption. Past the target the room goes flat and people raise their voices to compensate.
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Treating it as a generic Barcelona job
Flats stacked around an interior courtyard with tiled floors and hard plaster. Sound moves between homes through the structure and across the patio.
05 / Route to site
Getting it to Barcelona, with real dates
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Barcelona, then a short road run to site |
| Dispatch | 4 to 7 working days |
| Freight | Sea into Barcelona |
| 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, not after.
Sea freight direct into Barcelona, then a short road run to site. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
Questions from Barcelona projects
What makes recording studio acoustics and soundproofing different in Barcelona?
Studios sit inside residential blocks, so the neighbour above matters more than the room treatment. Flats stacked around an interior courtyard with tiled floors and hard plaster. Sound moves between homes through the structure and across the patio.
Where should the budget go first on a Barcelona project?
Isolation. A measured background level, agreed before anything is bought. Low frequency. Corner and boundary absorption with real depth, not surface foam.
Do you have an office or installation team in Barcelona?
No. We manufacture in India and supply into Barcelona. 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 Barcelona site?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Barcelona, then a short road run 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, not after.
What goes wrong most often on this kind of project?
Buying foam to solve an isolation problem. Treating the room before the shell is isolated.
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
Send a plan and a section, get a real build-up
Send what you have. We will give you a layer by layer build-up, a bill of quantities and a date material lands, and we will flag anything in the brief that will not achieve what you want.