For projects in Calgary
Auditorium acoustics and soundproofing in Calgary
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. Community centres, school gymnasiums and church halls carry speech, music and sport in the same hard volume.
- 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 Calgary 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.
Community centres, school gymnasiums and church halls carry speech, music and sport in the same hard volume.
Work reaching us from Calgary is mostly corporate offices and operations centres, condo towers, schools, clinics, home theatres.
- A long way inland Vancouver then rail across the mountains. It is a real leg with real time attached, and we build it into the date rather than quoting a port arrival.
- Operations centres run all day Rooms where people monitor, take calls and talk over each other for twelve hours need intelligibility and privacy together, not just less echo.
- Sealed against deep cold Buildings close up for months and mechanical systems work hard. Sound stops leaking out and starts building up, so absorption has to be balanced rather than maximised.
- 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 Calgary.
02 / The build-up
How the layers stack, from the structure inwards
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Layer 1
Wooden slat acoustic panels
Timber slats on an acoustic backing. In Calgary, forced air heating runs most of the year, so duct-borne noise and return air paths carry sound between rooms as reliably as the walls do.
Slats on felt backing. The standard. Absorption comes from the backing behind the gaps, so the slat gap ratio is an acoustic decision, not only a visual one.
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Layer 2
PET felt acoustic panels
A rigid non-woven panel pressed from 100% polyester fibre, a large part of it recycled. In Calgary, community centres, school gymnasiums and church halls carry speech, music and sport in the same hard volume.
Direct to wall. Panel bonded or mechanically fixed flat to the substrate. Simplest, and the weakest at low frequency.
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Layer 3
Ceiling baffles and clouds
PET felt suspended from the soffit, vertically as baffles or horizontally as clouds. In Calgary, school buildings run hard floors and lay-in tile with long heating seasons and sealed envelopes, so rooms stay live and mechanical noise is always present.
Vertical baffles. Hung on edge in rows. Both faces absorb, so coverage figures based on plan area understate them.
Architects working in Calgary usually need the build-up before the product. We will draw the section and mark what does the work. See how we support architects.
03 / On the ground
The Calgary conditions that change the answer
- A long way inland
Vancouver then rail across the mountains. It is a real leg with real time attached, and we build it into the date rather than quoting a port arrival.
- Operations centres run all day
Rooms where people monitor, take calls and talk over each other for twelve hours need intelligibility and privacy together, not just less echo.
- Sealed against deep cold
Buildings close up for months and mechanical systems work hard. Sound stops leaking out and starts building up, so absorption has to be balanced rather than maximised.
- Light frame residential
Condo and house construction is gypsum on studs, which passes low frequency far more easily than concrete. Added mass and decoupling do the work.
- Assembly and performance rooms
Community centres, school gymnasiums and church halls carry speech, music and sport in the same hard volume.
- School and campus buildings
School buildings run hard floors and lay-in tile with long heating seasons and sealed envelopes, so rooms stay live and mechanical noise is always present.
04 / Room by room
Space by space, for Calgary briefs
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Reverberation time
Set against use. Speech and music want different numbers, and a dual use hall needs a decision. Vancouver then rail across the mountains. It is a real leg with real time attached, and we build it into the date rather than quoting a port arrival.
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 1200 x 600 mm
- PET felt acoustic panels, 9, 12, 18 and 24 mm standard, tolerance plus or minus 5 percent
- Ceiling baffles and clouds, Made to the drawing, standard and custom
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Early reflections
Shaped surfaces that send energy to the rear seats rather than absorbing everything. Rooms where people monitor, take calls and talk over each other for twelve hours need intelligibility and privacy together, not just less echo.
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 20 mm
- PET felt acoustic panels, 4 to 24 mm
- Ceiling baffles and clouds, Both faces work, which is why suspended area outperforms the same area laid flat
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Rear wall
The single worst surface in most halls, and the first one to treat. Buildings close up for months and mechanical systems work hard. Sound stops leaking out and starts building up, so absorption has to be balanced rather than maximised.
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 400 kg per cubic metre
- PET felt acoustic panels, 1220 x 2440 mm standard, 4 x 8 ft
- Ceiling baffles and clouds, ASTM C423
For a Calgary interior where the finish leads, we will say plainly what each option costs you acoustically. See how we work with interior designers.
04 / Durability
The Calgary climate decides the material list
Calgary 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 / Straight talk
Where this kind of project usually fails
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Absorbing the whole room and losing the back rows
Small on the drawing, expensive on site, and almost always found after handover.
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Adding speakers to fix a reverberation problem
Small on the drawing, expensive on site, and almost always found after handover.
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Ignoring the rear wall because it is behind the audience
Small on the drawing, expensive on site, and almost always found after handover.
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Treating it as a generic Calgary job
Vancouver then rail across the mountains. It is a real leg with real time attached, and we build it into the date rather than quoting a port arrival.
05 / Supply
How material reaches a Calgary site
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Vancouver, then rail and road to Calgary |
| Dispatch | 4 to 7 working days |
| Freight | Sea via Vancouver, then rail |
| Support | Drawings, build-ups, BOQ and material that arrives complete |
Standard items dispatch in 4 to 7 working days. Add the sea leg to Vancouver and the rail leg inland, and plan the full window. We quote both parts separately.
Sea freight into Vancouver, then rail and road to Calgary. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
Questions from Calgary projects
What makes auditorium acoustics and soundproofing different in Calgary?
Community centres, school gymnasiums and church halls carry speech, music and sport in the same hard volume. Vancouver then rail across the mountains. It is a real leg with real time attached, and we build it into the date rather than quoting a port arrival.
Where should the budget go first on a Calgary 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 Calgary?
No. We manufacture in India and supply into Calgary. 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 Calgary site?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Vancouver, then rail and road to Calgary, dispatch: 4 to 7 working days. Standard items dispatch in 4 to 7 working days. Add the sea leg to Vancouver and the rail leg inland, and plan the full window. We quote both parts separately.
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
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.