For projects in China
School and classroom acoustics in China
Hard floors, bare walls and long corridors that amplify everything. Children with developing language, and anyone with a hearing difficulty, lose more from a live classroom than adults do, which is why intelligibility is the target rather than quiet. School buildings are concrete and tile with very large class sizes and long hard corridors.
- Classroom RT
- A number, set against room volume, achieved mostly at the ceiling.
- Corridor spill
- Long hard circulation feeds every room off it. Treating the corridor helps every classroom at once.
- Halls and gyms
- Dual use rooms carrying speech, music and sport, where durability decides the product.
- Quote
- From a plan and a section, within 48 hours
01 / The material
What this material is and where it earns its place in China
Hard floors, bare walls and long corridors that amplify everything. Children with developing language, and anyone with a hearing difficulty, lose more from a live classroom than adults do, which is why intelligibility is the target rather than quiet.
School buildings are concrete and tile with very large class sizes and long hard corridors.
Work reaching us from China is mostly specification-led projects, international hotel and office fit-out, studios, showrooms.
- We are not the default here Domestic supply is abundant and competitive. We are worth importing when the specification, the colour consistency or the supply chain is the reason, not the price.
- Concrete towers, hard interiors The structure blocks well, so the recurring problems are live rooms and impact passing down through slabs.
- Colour across a large order Where a single project runs across many floors, batch to batch consistency is usually the reason people come to a single manufacturer.
- Classroom RT A number, set against room volume, achieved mostly at the ceiling.
Full specification
Thickness, density, NRC by frequency, fire class, standard sizes and build-up detail for school acoustics are on the main product page. This page covers what that means for a project in China.
02 / The build-up
How the layers stack, from the structure inwards
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Layer 1
Wood wool acoustic panels
Wood fibre bound into a rigid board with an open texture. In China, central plant, VRF and split units, with risers and duct runs carrying noise between floors.
With a porous backing. Board over mineral backing where the room needs more than the board alone gives.
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Layer 2
Ceiling baffles and clouds
PET felt suspended from the soffit, vertically as baffles or horizontally as clouds. In China, auditoria, conference centres and function halls are large hard volumes with long decay.
Vertical baffles. Hung on edge in rows. Both faces absorb, so coverage figures based on plan area understate them.
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Layer 3
Acoustic carpet and rugs
A tile carpet with a dense polyester face on a felt backing. In China, school buildings are concrete and tile with very large class sizes and long hard corridors.
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 China 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 we see driving China briefs
- We are not the default here
Domestic supply is abundant and competitive. We are worth importing when the specification, the colour consistency or the supply chain is the reason, not the price.
- Concrete towers, hard interiors
The structure blocks well, so the recurring problems are live rooms and impact passing down through slabs.
- Colour across a large order
Where a single project runs across many floors, batch to batch consistency is usually the reason people come to a single manufacturer.
- Well served ports
Shanghai, Ningbo and Shenzhen all run frequently from India, so routing is straightforward.
- Assembly and performance rooms
Auditoria, conference centres and function halls are large hard volumes with long decay.
- School and campus buildings
School buildings are concrete and tile with very large class sizes and long hard corridors.
04 / Room by room
What each space in a China project needs
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Classroom RT
A number, set against room volume, achieved mostly at the ceiling. Domestic supply is abundant and competitive. We are worth importing when the specification, the colour consistency or the supply chain is the reason, not the price.
- PET felt acoustic panels, 100% PET non-woven, no added binder
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 20 mm
- Ceiling baffles and clouds, Made to the drawing, standard and custom
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Corridor spill
Long hard circulation feeds every room off it. Treating the corridor helps every classroom at once. The structure blocks well, so the recurring problems are live rooms and impact passing down through slabs.
- PET felt acoustic panels, 9, 12, 18 and 24 mm standard, tolerance plus or minus 5 percent
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 400 kg per cubic metre
- Ceiling baffles and clouds, Both faces work, which is why suspended area outperforms the same area laid flat
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Halls and gyms
Dual use rooms carrying speech, music and sport, where durability decides the product. Where a single project runs across many floors, batch to batch consistency is usually the reason people come to a single manufacturer.
- PET felt acoustic panels, 4 to 24 mm
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 0.30
- Ceiling baffles and clouds, ASTM C423
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
Durability in China, before acoustics is discussed
China 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.
On a China job with a consultant involved, our part is material that matches the submitted data. See working with acoustic consultants.
06 / Straight talk
Six mistakes that turn into a second fit-out
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Panels at child height where they get damaged
Small on the drawing, expensive on site, and almost always found after handover.
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Treating one classroom and leaving the corridor
Small on the drawing, expensive on site, and almost always found after handover.
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Choosing a product that cannot take a football
Enclose the machine, break the vibration path, then deal with what is left. Doing it in the other order costs more and achieves less.
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Treating it as a generic China job
Domestic supply is abundant and competitive. We are worth importing when the specification, the colour consistency or the supply chain is the reason, not the price.
05 / Getting it there
How material reaches a China site
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Shanghai, Ningbo or Shenzhen, then road to site |
| Dispatch | 4 to 7 working days |
| Freight | Sea via Shanghai or Ningbo |
| 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 into Shanghai, Ningbo or Shenzhen, then road to site. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
Questions from China projects
What makes school and classroom acoustics different in China?
School buildings are concrete and tile with very large class sizes and long hard corridors. Domestic supply is abundant and competitive. We are worth importing when the specification, the colour consistency or the supply chain is the reason, not the price.
Where should the budget go first on a China project?
Classroom RT. A number, set against room volume, achieved mostly at the ceiling. Corridor spill. Long hard circulation feeds every room off it. Treating the corridor helps every classroom at once.
Do you have an office or installation team in China?
No. We manufacture in India and supply into China. 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 China site?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Shanghai, Ningbo or Shenzhen, then road 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?
Panels at child height where they get damaged. Treating one classroom and leaving the corridor.
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
We quote from drawings, not from a square foot rate. Send a plan and the section through the critical wall or ceiling and you will get something you can actually build from.