Manufactured in India, supplied in Chicago
Ceiling baffles and clouds in Chicago
We manufacture ceiling baffles and clouds at our own plant at Palwal in Haryana, India, and supply them into Chicago. Made at our own plant in India, shipped into an East or Gulf coast port and railed inland, with that leg quoted separately so the dates are real.
- Material
- 100% PET non-woven, the panel family
- Thickness
- 9 to 24 mm
- Size
- Made to the drawing, standard and custom
- Exposure
- Both faces work, which is why suspended area outperforms the same area laid flat
- Test standard
- ASTM C423
- Lead time
- Confirmed against the drawing
- Minimum order
- 500 sq ft, about 46 sq m
- ASTM C423
- Made at our own plant, Palwal, Haryana, India
- One batch across the order, no blending between runs
Manufacturer, not reseller. We hold no local approvals and will not imply we do. You get the price the factory quotes, material that matches across a large order, and advice that sometimes talks you out of a purchase.
01 / The product
What this is, and what it changes in a Chicago room
PET felt suspended from the soffit, vertically as baffles or horizontally as clouds. It is how you treat a room with exposed services, where there is no ceiling to line.
Work reaching us from Chicago is mostly two-flats and three-flats, high-rise apartments, offices, venues, schools, clinics.
American homes are timber frame with gypsum board on both faces, so a party wall or a basement ceiling has almost no mass. Adding a second leaf with a limp membrane between does more than any amount of surface treatment.
- Vertical baffles Hung on edge in rows. Both faces absorb, so coverage figures based on plan area understate them.
- Horizontal clouds Flat rafts over the occupied zone, which also reflect early speech energy back down where it helps.
- Mixed with services Set out around ducts, trays and lighting rather than fighting them, coordinated from your reflected ceiling plan.
- What it will not do Baffles are efficient, not magic. In a very tall volume the height above the baffle line still rings, and the honest answer is either more area or accepting a higher RT, not a denser panel.
Full specification
Thickness, density, NRC by frequency, fire class, standard sizes and build-up detail for baffles and clouds are on the main product page. This page covers what that means for a project in Chicago.
Acoustic ceiling baffles Acoustic ceiling clouds Acoustic ceiling tiles
02 / Specification
Published specification, identical wherever we ship it
Nothing below changes by location. The decisions that do change are grade, thickness and how the material is mounted, and those are covered further down.
- EchoCore 151500 GSM. Offices, retail, general
- EchoPro 181800 GSM. Halls, atria, spaces with a target
- EchoMax 222200 GSM. High volume and high occupancy
| Material | 100% PET non-woven, the panel family |
|---|---|
| Thickness | 9 to 24 mm |
| Size | Made to the drawing, standard and custom |
| Exposure | Both faces work, which is why suspended area outperforms the same area laid flat |
| Test standard | ASTM C423 |
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.
03 / In this market
What the buildings in Chicago do to the specification
- Elevated rail past the window
Trains at window height put noise in through the glazing, not through the wall. The facade is where the money should go first.
- Brick outside, timber inside
Two-flats and three-flats have solid masonry outside and timber floors between families. Footfall travels down and masonry does nothing about it.
- Sealed against hard winters
Buildings close up for months and mechanical systems run hard, so sound accumulates inside rather than escaping.
- No port, so plan the inland leg
Everything arrives at a coast and rails in. We quote the sea leg and the inland leg separately.
- School and campus buildings
Public school buildings run long corridors with hard floors and lay-in tile ceilings that were chosen for cost, not for speech. Classroom reverberation and corridor spill are the two complaints, and both respond to ceiling area rather than wall panels.
For a Chicago practice, the useful thing is a detail you can put in a drawing set, not a brochure. See how we support architects.
04 / Conditions
Why the climate in Chicago changes the material, not the target
Chicago is mild summers and cold, wet winters, and that narrows the sensible material list before acoustics is even discussed.
Cold external walls and long heating seasons make condensation behind a lining the thing to design out. PET felt is unaffected by damp air.
The risk we design against here is condensation and cold bridging behind new linings.
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.
05 / Supply
What the route into Chicago actually looks like
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | An East or Gulf coast port, then rail and road inland |
| Dispatch | 4 to 7 working days |
| Freight | Sea, then rail inland |
| Packing | Flat packed with fixings, sets labelled by row so the install sequence matches the drawing. |
| Lead time | Confirmed against the drawing. Standard sizes 4 to 7 working days. |
Standard items dispatch in 4 to 7 working days. The sea leg from India is long, so plan the full door to door window into the programme. We give real dates, not optimistic ones.
Sea freight into an East or Gulf coast port, then rail and road to Chicago. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
The same 500 sq ft minimum applies on export.
| Baffles and clouds | 500 sq ft, about 46 sq m |
|---|
Baffles and clouds are cut to the drawing, so the minimum is counted on finished panel area. Both faces of a hung baffle absorb, which is why coverage taken off a plan understates what the order actually does.
06 / Read this first
The things worth knowing before you place the order
-
The wrong product for the problem
Baffles are efficient, not magic. In a very tall volume the height above the baffle line still rings, and the honest answer is either more area or accepting a higher RT, not a denser panel.
-
Coverage bought instead of a target
Lining every surface is a purchase, not a result. We would rather calculate the area against a reverberation target and sell you less of it.
-
A claim of being local to Chicago
We manufacture in India and supply here. We do not run an office in this city and we will not pretend to, because you would find out on the first site visit.
Chicago: questions we are actually asked
Is there a Chicago factory behind this product?
No, and we will not say otherwise. We manufacture at our own plant at Palwal in Haryana, India, and supply into Chicago as the manufacturer rather than through a dealer. Made at our own plant in India, shipped into an East or Gulf coast port and railed inland, with that leg quoted separately so the dates are real. You buy at factory prices with one consistent batch across the order.
What changes the specification on a Chicago job?
Trains at window height put noise in through the glazing, not through the wall. The facade is where the money should go first. Two-flats and three-flats have solid masonry outside and timber floors between families. Footfall travels down and masonry does nothing about it. Those two things move the build-up far more than the panel figure does.
Does Chicago weather shorten the life of this material?
Chicago is mild summers and cold, wet winters. Cold external walls and long heating seasons make condensation behind a lining the thing to design out. PET felt is unaffected by damp air. The failure we design against here is condensation and cold bridging behind new linings.
How does an order actually travel to Chicago?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: An East or Gulf coast port, then rail and road inland, dispatch: 4 to 7 working days. Standard items dispatch in 4 to 7 working days. The sea leg from India is long, so plan the full door to door window into the programme. We give real dates, not optimistic ones.
What should you not buy ceiling baffles and clouds for?
Baffles are efficient, not magic. In a very tall volume the height above the baffle line still rings, and the honest answer is either more area or accepting a higher RT, not a denser panel.
Is there a minimum order, and how does it arrive?
The same 500 sq ft minimum applies on export. Baffles and clouds, 500 sq ft, about 46 sq m. Baffles and clouds are cut to the drawing, so the minimum is counted on finished panel area. Both faces of a hung baffle absorb, which is why coverage taken off a plan understates what the order actually does. Flat packed with fixings, sets labelled by row so the install sequence matches the drawing.
Next step
Send the drawings, get a straight answer
One drawing gets you a proper answer. Build-up, quantities, a delivered date, and an honest note on anything we think is the wrong approach.