For projects in Berlin
Auditorium acoustics and soundproofing in Berlin
A large hard volume where speech falls apart long before anyone calls the room echoey. The target is intelligibility at the back row, which is a reverberation and early reflection problem, not a loudspeaker problem. Concert halls, church buildings and civic Saal spaces are long-reverberation rooms where any intervention has to be reversible and visually disciplined.
- Reverberation time
- Set against use. Speech and music want different numbers, and a dual use hall needs a decision.
- Early reflections
- Shaped surfaces that send energy to the rear seats rather than absorbing everything.
- Rear wall
- The single worst surface in most halls, and the first one to treat.
- Quote
- From a plan and a section, within 48 hours
01 / What it is
The product, described honestly, for a Berlin brief
A large hard volume where speech falls apart long before anyone calls the room echoey. The target is intelligibility at the back row, which is a reverberation and early reflection problem, not a loudspeaker problem.
Concert halls, church buildings and civic Saal spaces are long-reverberation rooms where any intervention has to be reversible and visually disciplined.
Work reaching us from Berlin is mostly altbau flats, studios, clubs, startup offices, schools, clinics.
- Altbau floors Timber joists with fill between them pass footfall and speech. Adding mass and a resilient layer works better than anything fixed to the ceiling underneath.
- Club and live venues Berlin nightlife runs long hours beside housing. Low frequency containment is the whole job, and it is structural, not decorative.
- Courtyard buildings Hinterhof layouts bounce plant noise and voices between facing windows, which turns one noisy unit into a block wide problem.
- Reverberation time Set against use. Speech and music want different numbers, and a dual use hall needs a decision.
Full specification
Thickness, density, NRC by frequency, fire class, standard sizes and build-up detail for auditorium acoustics are on the main product page. This page covers what that means for a project in Berlin.
02 / The build-up
The build-up, layer by layer
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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 Berlin, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery is standard in newer stock, so duct-borne noise and terminal unit noise are the sources rather than open windows.
Direct to wall. Panel bonded or mechanically fixed flat to the substrate. Simplest, and the weakest at low frequency.
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Layer 2
Ceiling baffles and clouds
PET felt suspended from the soffit, vertically as baffles or horizontally as clouds. In Berlin, concert halls, church buildings and civic Saal spaces are long-reverberation rooms where any intervention has to be reversible and visually disciplined.
Mixed with services. Set out around ducts, trays and lighting rather than fighting them, coordinated from your reflected ceiling plan.
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Layer 3
Acoustic carpet and rugs
A tile carpet with a dense polyester face on a felt backing. In Berlin, school and university buildings are built to a high thermal standard with hard, cleanable surfaces. Speech clarity in classrooms and long corridors is where the acoustic budget goes.
Over a resilient underlay. Where impact noise to the floor below is the actual complaint, the underlay does that work, not the carpet.
For a Berlin practice, the useful thing is a detail you can put in a drawing set, not a brochure. See how we support architects.
03 / On the ground
What the buildings in Berlin do to the specification
- Altbau floors
Timber joists with fill between them pass footfall and speech. Adding mass and a resilient layer works better than anything fixed to the ceiling underneath.
- Club and live venues
Berlin nightlife runs long hours beside housing. Low frequency containment is the whole job, and it is structural, not decorative.
- Courtyard buildings
Hinterhof layouts bounce plant noise and voices between facing windows, which turns one noisy unit into a block wide problem.
- Cold winters, sealed rooms
Tight, well insulated rooms sound dead in the wrong way. Balanced absorption matters as much as isolation.
- Assembly and performance rooms
Concert halls, church buildings and civic Saal spaces are long-reverberation rooms where any intervention has to be reversible and visually disciplined.
- School and campus buildings
School and university buildings are built to a high thermal standard with hard, cleanable surfaces. Speech clarity in classrooms and long corridors is where the acoustic budget goes.
04 / Room by room
What each space in a Berlin project needs
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Reverberation time
Set against use. Speech and music want different numbers, and a dual use hall needs a decision. Timber joists with fill between them pass footfall and speech. Adding mass and a resilient layer works better than anything fixed to the ceiling underneath.
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 1200 x 600 mm
- Wooden slat acoustic panels, 13-3, 14-2, 28-4 and 59-5
- PET felt acoustic panels, 4 to 24 mm
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Early reflections
Shaped surfaces that send energy to the rear seats rather than absorbing everything. Berlin nightlife runs long hours beside housing. Low frequency containment is the whole job, and it is structural, not decorative.
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 20 mm
- Wooden slat acoustic panels, 2440 x 192 mm and 2440 x 128 mm
- PET felt acoustic panels, 1220 x 2440 mm standard, 4 x 8 ft
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Rear wall
The single worst surface in most halls, and the first one to treat. Hinterhof layouts bounce plant noise and voices between facing windows, which turns one noisy unit into a block wide problem.
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 400 kg per cubic metre
- Wooden slat acoustic panels, 14, 16 and 18 mm
- PET felt acoustic panels, 2440 x 4270 mm, 2.44 x 4.27 m, 8 x 14 ft
Designers get colour, pattern and CNC options with the absorption figure attached to each. See how we work with interior designers.
04 / Climate and durability
The Berlin climate decides the material list
Berlin is cool and damp, with long heating seasons and cold external walls, and that narrows the material list before acoustics is discussed.
Cold wall build-ups and long heating seasons mean interstitial condensation is a real risk behind any lining. PET felt is unaffected by damp air and will not feed mould where a fabric-faced mineral product would.
The failure we design against here is condensation behind linings in older, poorly insulated stock.
Consultants get the raw data, not a sales sheet. That is the whole of our side of the job, and it is set out under working with acoustic consultants.
06 / Before you buy
What we watch go wrong on jobs like this
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Absorbing the whole room and losing the back rows
This is the one that comes back as a second fit-out rather than a snag.
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Adding speakers to fix a reverberation problem
This is the one that comes back as a second fit-out rather than a snag.
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Ignoring the rear wall because it is behind the audience
This is the one that comes back as a second fit-out rather than a snag.
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Treating it as a generic Berlin job
Timber joists with fill between them pass footfall and speech. Adding mass and a resilient layer works better than anything fixed to the ceiling underneath.
05 / Getting it there
What the route into Berlin actually looks like
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Hamburg or Bremerhaven |
| Dispatch | 4 to 7 working days |
| Freight | Sea via Hamburg |
| Support | Drawings, build-ups, BOQ and material that arrives complete |
Standard items dispatch in 4 to 7 working days. Grooved and custom colours take longer, and we say so before you order.
Sea freight into Hamburg or Bremerhaven, then road to Berlin. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
Questions from Berlin projects
What makes auditorium acoustics and soundproofing different in Berlin?
Concert halls, church buildings and civic Saal spaces are long-reverberation rooms where any intervention has to be reversible and visually disciplined. Timber joists with fill between them pass footfall and speech. Adding mass and a resilient layer works better than anything fixed to the ceiling underneath.
Where should the budget go first on a Berlin project?
Reverberation time. Set against use. Speech and music want different numbers, and a dual use hall needs a decision. Early reflections. Shaped surfaces that send energy to the rear seats rather than absorbing everything.
Do you have an office or installation team in Berlin?
No. We manufacture in India and supply into Berlin. 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 Berlin site?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Hamburg or Bremerhaven, dispatch: 4 to 7 working days. Standard items dispatch in 4 to 7 working days. Grooved and custom colours take longer, and we say so before you order.
What goes wrong most often on this kind of project?
Absorbing the whole room and losing the back rows. Adding speakers to fix a reverberation problem.
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
A plan and a section is enough. We will come back with a build-up, a BOQ and a delivered date, and we will say so if what you are asking for will not work.