For projects in Dubai
Office acoustics and soundproofing in Dubai
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. District cooling and large AHU plant run continuously. Duct attenuation, plant room lining and riser treatment do the work.
- 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 / Start here
What this is, and what it changes in a Dubai room
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.
District cooling and large AHU plant run continuously. Duct attenuation, plant room lining and riser treatment do the work.
Work reaching us from Dubai is mostly hotels and fit-out, towers and apartments, retail and malls, offices, clinics, studios.
- A short sea leg from India Western Indian ports to Jebel Ali is one of the quickest runs we operate, which is why a factory abroad can still hold a Dubai programme date.
- A professional fit-out market Contractors here compare products line by line and expect documentation with the quote. That suits a manufacturer who can answer for what is in the material.
- Sealed against the heat Buildings stay closed with heavy cooling running all year, so mechanical noise accumulates and rooms stay live.
- 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 Dubai.
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
Ceiling baffles and clouds
PET felt suspended from the soffit, vertically as baffles or horizontally as clouds. In Dubai, district cooling and large AHU plant run continuously. Duct attenuation, plant room lining and riser treatment do the work.
Mixed with services. Set out around ducts, trays and lighting rather than fighting them, coordinated from your reflected ceiling plan.
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Layer 2
Acoustic carpet and rugs
A tile carpet with a dense polyester face on a felt backing. In Dubai, hotel ballrooms, mosques and conference centres are tall hard volumes where a long tail defeats the speech system before anyone hears a word.
Loose lay on tackifier. Tiles lifted individually for access under a raised floor, which is why tile beats broadloom in an office.
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Layer 3
SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl
A limp, high density sheet that adds mass to a partition, floor or duct without adding depth. In Dubai, international school campuses are new, highly glazed and built to a tight programme. Sports halls, atria and lecture spaces are the rooms that need treating.
Floor, floating. Membrane under a resilient layer and a floating deck, so impact energy is broken before it reaches the slab.
We would rather argue about the build-up at design stage than on site. See how we support architects.
03 / In this market
What we see driving Dubai briefs
- A short sea leg from India
Western Indian ports to Jebel Ali is one of the quickest runs we operate, which is why a factory abroad can still hold a Dubai programme date.
- A professional fit-out market
Contractors here compare products line by line and expect documentation with the quote. That suits a manufacturer who can answer for what is in the material.
- Sealed against the heat
Buildings stay closed with heavy cooling running all year, so mechanical noise accumulates and rooms stay live.
- Impact through slabs
Hard flooring over concrete passes footfall straight down between apartments. The underlay goes in before the finish, not after the complaint.
- Plant and HVAC
District cooling and large AHU plant run continuously. Duct attenuation, plant room lining and riser treatment do the work.
04 / Room by room
Room by room, on a typical Dubai job
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Open plan
Distraction distance, not reverberation time. Ceiling absorption plus screens at the desk. Western Indian ports to Jebel Ali is one of the quickest runs we operate, which is why a factory abroad can still hold a Dubai programme date.
- PET felt acoustic panels, 100% PET non-woven, no added binder
- Acoustic panels, 1800 x 900 mm, image printed into the felt rather than onto a facing
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, STC 34, 8.4 kg per sq m
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Meeting rooms
Privacy between rooms. That is partition and door work, not panels. Contractors here compare products line by line and expect documentation with the quote. That suits a manufacturer who can answer for what is in the material.
- PET felt acoustic panels, 9, 12, 18 and 24 mm standard, tolerance plus or minus 5 percent
- Acoustic panels, Cut pattern in PET felt, adds visual rhythm without changing the absorber
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, 12.6 kg per sq m, STC on request
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Cabins and calls
Short RT so a call sounds clean. A small amount of well placed absorber. Buildings stay closed with heavy cooling running all year, so mechanical noise accumulates and rooms stay live.
- PET felt acoustic panels, 4 to 24 mm
- Acoustic panels, ASTM C423
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, 5 x 1.2 m, 6 sq m per roll
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 / Conditions
Why the climate in Dubai changes the material, not the target
Dubai is hot and dry for most of the year, with dust and high daytime surface temperatures, and that narrows the material list before acoustics is discussed.
Dust is the enemy of open-cell products. PET felt does not shed, does not hold dust in the way fabric-wrapped glass wool does, and wipes down. Timber needs a stable indoor RH or it moves.
The failure we design against here is dust ingress and thermal movement in long runs.
If a consultant has set the target, we will quote against their figures rather than ours, and stay out of the scope they own. More on working with acoustic consultants.
06 / Straight talk
Six mistakes that turn into a second fit-out
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Lining every wall while leaving the ceiling bare
A treated wall under a bare hard ceiling gives you a fraction of the reduction you paid for, and the room still sounds wrong.
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Treating a privacy problem with absorption
If the complaint is being overheard, no amount of absorption inside the room will fix it. That is a partition job and we will say so.
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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 Dubai job
Western Indian ports to Jebel Ali is one of the quickest runs we operate, which is why a factory abroad can still hold a Dubai programme date.
05 / Supply
What the route into Dubai actually looks like
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Jebel Ali, then road to site |
| Dispatch | 4 to 7 working days |
| Freight | Sea via Jebel Ali |
| 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 Jebel Ali, then road to site. The short transit means sea works for most programmes. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
Questions from Dubai projects
What makes office acoustics and soundproofing different in Dubai?
District cooling and large AHU plant run continuously. Duct attenuation, plant room lining and riser treatment do the work. Western Indian ports to Jebel Ali is one of the quickest runs we operate, which is why a factory abroad can still hold a Dubai programme date.
Where should the budget go first on a Dubai 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 Dubai?
No. We manufacture in India and supply into Dubai. 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 Dubai site?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Jebel Ali, 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?
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
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.