For projects in Berlin
Office acoustics and soundproofing in Berlin
Three separate problems get called one problem: speech carrying across an open floor, meeting rooms that leak, and hard rooms that ring. Each has a different answer and mixing them up is how budgets get wasted. 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.
- Open plan
- Distraction distance, not reverberation time. Ceiling absorption plus screens at the desk.
- Meeting rooms
- Privacy between rooms. That is partition and door work, not panels.
- Cabins and calls
- Short RT so a call sounds clean. A small amount of well placed absorber.
- Quote
- From a plan and a section, within 48 hours
01 / The material
What you are buying, and what it fixes in Berlin
Three separate problems get called one problem: speech carrying across an open floor, meeting rooms that leak, and hard rooms that ring. Each has a different answer and mixing them up is how budgets get wasted.
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.
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.
- Open plan Distraction distance, not reverberation time. Ceiling absorption plus screens at the desk.
Full specification
Thickness, density, NRC by frequency, fire class, standard sizes and build-up detail for office acoustics are on the main product page. This page covers what that means for a project in Berlin.
Office and conference room acoustics Acoustic office screens
02 / The build-up
How the layers stack, from the structure inwards
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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.
Over a porous backing. Panel over mineral or PET backing where the room needs genuine low mid control.
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Layer 2
Acoustic carpet and rugs
A tile carpet with a dense polyester face on a felt backing. In Berlin, concert halls, church buildings and civic Saal spaces are long-reverberation rooms where any intervention has to be reversible and visually disciplined.
Over a resilient underlay. Where impact noise to the floor below is the actual complaint, the underlay does that work, not the carpet.
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Layer 3
Acoustic panels
The full absorber range rather than one product: plain PET felt, printed felt, grooved panels and fabric finishes, chosen by how the room is used and how it has to look. 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.
Mixed finish. Plain felt where it is out of eye line, printed or grooved where it is seen.
We would rather argue about the build-up at design stage than on site. See how we support architects.
03 / Local conditions
The Berlin conditions that change the answer
- 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.
- Plant and HVAC
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.
04 / Room by room
Space by space, for Berlin briefs
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Open plan
Distraction distance, not reverberation time. Ceiling absorption plus screens at the desk. 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.
- PET felt acoustic panels, 100% PET non-woven, no added binder
- Acoustic carpet and rugs, 4 mm
- Acoustic panels, Cut pattern in PET felt, adds visual rhythm without changing the absorber
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Meeting rooms
Privacy between rooms. That is partition and door work, not panels. Berlin nightlife runs long hours beside housing. Low frequency containment is the whole job, and it is structural, not decorative.
- PET felt acoustic panels, 9, 12, 18 and 24 mm standard, tolerance plus or minus 5 percent
- Acoustic carpet and rugs, High density polyester
- Acoustic panels, ASTM C423
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Cabins and calls
Short RT so a call sounds clean. A small amount of well placed absorber. Hinterhof layouts bounce plant noise and voices between facing windows, which turns one noisy unit into a block wide problem.
- PET felt acoustic panels, 4 to 24 mm
- Acoustic carpet and rugs, Felt
- 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 Berlin, before acoustics is discussed
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.
Where a consultant is already engaged on a Berlin project, we supply to their specification and send the test reports rather than describing them. More on working with acoustic consultants.
06 / Read this first
Where this kind of project usually fails
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Lining every wall while leaving the ceiling bare
The ceiling is almost always the largest untreated surface, so leaving it out means paying for panels that cannot reach the target.
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Treating a privacy problem with absorption
Nobody has ever achieved speech privacy with a panel. Privacy needs mass, a sealed head detail and a door that actually closes.
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Glass cabins specified without a door and head detail
Soundproofing fails at the gaps, not the materials. One unsealed service penetration can undo a correctly built wall.
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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 / Supply
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 office acoustics and soundproofing different 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. 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?
Open plan. Distraction distance, not reverberation time. Ceiling absorption plus screens at the desk. Meeting rooms. Privacy between rooms. That is partition and door work, not panels.
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?
Lining every wall while leaving the ceiling bare. Treating a privacy problem with absorption.
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
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.