For projects in Cape Town
Home theatre soundproofing and acoustics in Cape Town
Serious equipment in a room with no isolation plan. The complaint is almost never the speakers. It is bass leaving the room and an untreated box making the system sound worse than it is. Brick and concrete construction with hard floors. Townhouse and cluster developments share walls that were built for structure, not for separation.
- Containment
- Bass through the wall, floor and door. Mass and decoupling, with the door usually the weakest point.
- Low frequency inside
- Corner absorption with depth, before any surface treatment.
- Reflections
- Side wall and ceiling first reflection points at the seating position.
- Quote
- From a plan and a section, within 48 hours
01 / The material
What this material is and where it earns its place in Cape Town
Serious equipment in a room with no isolation plan. The complaint is almost never the speakers. It is bass leaving the room and an untreated box making the system sound worse than it is.
Brick and concrete construction with hard floors. Townhouse and cluster developments share walls that were built for structure, not for separation.
Work reaching us from Cape Town is mostly hotels and restaurants, heritage conversions, offices, apartments, schools, studios.
- The port is at the city Direct sea into Cape Town avoids the long inland haul, which makes the landed cost and the date both easier to hold.
- Heritage fabric stays put Older buildings in the city cannot be structurally altered. Work has to be internal, shallow and ideally reversible.
- Hospitality is the market Hotels and restaurants where the room is part of what the guest is paying for, judged when it is completely full.
- Containment Bass through the wall, floor and door. Mass and decoupling, with the door usually the weakest point.
Full specification
Thickness, density, NRC by frequency, fire class, standard sizes and build-up detail for home theatre soundproofing are on the main product page. This page covers what that means for a project in Cape Town.
02 / The build-up
What goes where, from the structure in
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Layer 1
SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl
A limp, high density sheet that adds mass to a partition, floor or duct without adding depth. In Cape Town, split units and generator sets, with backup generation running often enough that its enclosure matters as much as the HVAC.
Duct and plant wrap. Membrane wrapped over the duct with a decoupling layer beneath, sealed at every lap.
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Layer 2
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 Cape Town, church buildings and community halls are large hard rooms carrying amplified music and speech at high level.
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 3
Soundproofing materials
The blocking side of the range taken together: mass loaded vinyl, resilient layers, cavity absorption and the build-ups they belong in. In Cape Town, classrooms are hard walled with high ceilings and large class sizes, and school halls double as assembly and performance spaces.
Resilient bar. Where a full independent leaf will not fit. Effective, and very easy to short circuit with one wrong screw.
Architects working in Cape Town 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 / Local conditions
What decides the build-up in Cape Town
- The port is at the city
Direct sea into Cape Town avoids the long inland haul, which makes the landed cost and the date both easier to hold.
- Heritage fabric stays put
Older buildings in the city cannot be structurally altered. Work has to be internal, shallow and ideally reversible.
- Hospitality is the market
Hotels and restaurants where the room is part of what the guest is paying for, judged when it is completely full.
- Wind and coastal damp
PET felt does not absorb moisture or feed mould, which matters on exposed coastal elevations.
- The housing stock
Brick and concrete construction with hard floors. Townhouse and cluster developments share walls that were built for structure, not for separation.
04 / Room by room
What each space in a Cape Town project needs
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Containment
Bass through the wall, floor and door. Mass and decoupling, with the door usually the weakest point. Direct sea into Cape Town avoids the long inland haul, which makes the landed cost and the date both easier to hold.
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, 2100 kg per cubic metre
- Soundproofing materials, 1800 x 900 x 20 mm, 100 kg per cubic metre, NRC 0.85
- Soundproof curtains, 5.5 kg per sq m
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Low frequency inside
Corner absorption with depth, before any surface treatment. Older buildings in the city cannot be structurally altered. Work has to be internal, shallow and ideally reversible.
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, STC 30, 5.25 kg per sq m
- Soundproofing materials, Mass, then decoupling, then cavity absorption, then sealing
- Soundproof curtains, Up to 30 dB
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Reflections
Side wall and ceiling first reflection points at the seating position. Hotels and restaurants where the room is part of what the guest is paying for, judged when it is completely full.
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, STC 34, 8.4 kg per sq m
- Soundproofing materials, ASTM E90 for the barrier, ASTM C423 for the absorber
- Soundproof curtains, 30
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 / Climate
The Cape Town climate decides the material list
Cape Town is hot summers, mild winters and a distinct wet season, and that narrows the material list before acoustics is discussed.
PET felt handles the wet months without absorbing moisture or feeding mould. Timber and wood wool want a ventilated cavity and a stable indoor RH.
The failure we design against here is wet-season humidity behind linings.
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
Six mistakes that turn into a second fit-out
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Foam on the walls as a soundproofing measure
Small on the drawing, expensive on site, and almost always found after handover.
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A standard door on a room built to hold bass
Soundproofing fails at the gaps, not the materials. One unsealed service penetration can undo a correctly built wall.
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Treating before the room is sealed
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 Cape Town job
Direct sea into Cape Town avoids the long inland haul, which makes the landed cost and the date both easier to hold.
05 / Route to site
How material reaches a Cape Town site
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Cape Town, then a short road run to site |
| Dispatch | 4 to 7 working days |
| Freight | Sea into Cape Town |
| 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 Cape Town, then a short road run to site. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
Questions from Cape Town projects
What makes home theatre soundproofing and acoustics different in Cape Town?
Brick and concrete construction with hard floors. Townhouse and cluster developments share walls that were built for structure, not for separation. Direct sea into Cape Town avoids the long inland haul, which makes the landed cost and the date both easier to hold.
Where should the budget go first on a Cape Town project?
Containment. Bass through the wall, floor and door. Mass and decoupling, with the door usually the weakest point. Low frequency inside. Corner absorption with depth, before any surface treatment.
Do you have an office or installation team in Cape Town?
No. We manufacture in India and supply into Cape Town. 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 Cape Town site?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Cape Town, 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?
Foam on the walls as a soundproofing measure. A standard door on a room built to hold bass.
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 the drawings, get a straight answer
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.