For projects in Hawaii
Auditorium acoustics and soundproofing in Hawaii
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. Churches, school gyms and multipurpose halls double as performance spaces, which means a room designed for neither speech nor music has to carry both.
- 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 / The product
What this is, and what it changes in a Hawaii room
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.
Churches, school gyms and multipurpose halls double as performance spaces, which means a room designed for neither speech nor music has to carry both.
Work reaching us from Hawaii is mostly resorts and hotels, timber housing, offices, schools, clinics, venues.
- A genuinely long route This is one of the longest legs we run. Ordering to a real schedule matters more here than anywhere, so we quote the full window.
- Buildings open to the trade winds Louvres, lanais and openable walls mean there is often no envelope to isolate. We will tell you what cannot be fixed rather than sell around it.
- Salt air is relentless PET felt does not absorb moisture, rot or corrode, which matters where almost everything else degrades quickly.
- 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 Hawaii.
02 / The build-up
The build-up, layer by layer
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Layer 1
Wooden slat acoustic panels
Timber slats on an acoustic backing. In Hawaii, packaged rooftop units and ducted forced air are standard, so noise arrives through the duct rather than through the wall. Lining the first three metres of duct and treating the return path is usually the whole job.
Slats on a cavity. Backing plus an air gap behind moves absorption lower, which matters in music rooms.
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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 Hawaii, churches, school gyms and multipurpose halls double as performance spaces, which means a room designed for neither speech nor music has to carry both.
Over a porous backing. Panel over mineral or PET backing where the room needs genuine low mid control.
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Layer 3
Ceiling baffles and clouds
PET felt suspended from the soffit, vertically as baffles or horizontally as clouds. In Hawaii, 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.
Horizontal clouds. Flat rafts over the occupied zone, which also reflect early speech energy back down where it helps.
We would rather argue about the build-up at design stage than on site. See how we support architects.
03 / On the ground
What the buildings in Hawaii do to the specification
- A genuinely long route
This is one of the longest legs we run. Ordering to a real schedule matters more here than anywhere, so we quote the full window.
- Buildings open to the trade winds
Louvres, lanais and openable walls mean there is often no envelope to isolate. We will tell you what cannot be fixed rather than sell around it.
- Salt air is relentless
PET felt does not absorb moisture, rot or corrode, which matters where almost everything else degrades quickly.
- Inter-island freight
Material bound for a neighbouring island has a second leg. Tell us and we pack for it.
- Assembly and performance rooms
Churches, school gyms and multipurpose halls double as performance spaces, which means a room designed for neither speech nor music has to carry both.
- 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.
04 / Room by room
Room by room, on a typical Hawaii job
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Reverberation time
Set against use. Speech and music want different numbers, and a dual use hall needs a decision. This is one of the longest legs we run. Ordering to a real schedule matters more here than anywhere, so we quote the full window.
- Wooden slat acoustic panels, MDF, FR MDF, HDF or HDHMR
- PET felt acoustic panels, 9, 12, 18 and 24 mm standard, tolerance plus or minus 5 percent
- Acoustic carpet and rugs, High density polyester
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Early reflections
Shaped surfaces that send energy to the rear seats rather than absorbing everything. Louvres, lanais and openable walls mean there is often no envelope to isolate. We will tell you what cannot be fixed rather than sell around it.
- Wooden slat acoustic panels, 13-3, 14-2, 28-4 and 59-5
- PET felt acoustic panels, 4 to 24 mm
- Acoustic carpet and rugs, Felt
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Rear wall
The single worst surface in most halls, and the first one to treat. PET felt does not absorb moisture, rot or corrode, which matters where almost everything else degrades quickly.
- Wooden slat acoustic panels, 2440 x 192 mm and 2440 x 128 mm
- PET felt acoustic panels, 1220 x 2440 mm standard, 4 x 8 ft
- Acoustic carpet and rugs, 64 sq ft per pack
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 / Climate
What the Hawaii climate rules in and rules out
Hawaii 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.
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 / Worth knowing
Where this kind of project usually fails
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Absorbing the whole room and losing the back rows
It sounds like a small detail until the room is finished and the complaint arrives.
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Adding speakers to fix a reverberation problem
This is the one that comes back as a second fit-out rather than a snag.
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Ignoring the rear wall because it is behind the audience
This is the one that comes back as a second fit-out rather than a snag.
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Treating it as a generic Hawaii job
This is one of the longest legs we run. Ordering to a real schedule matters more here than anywhere, so we quote the full window.
05 / Route to site
Supply into Hawaii, start to site
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Honolulu, then road or inter-island onward |
| Dispatch | 4 to 7 working days |
| Freight | Sea via Honolulu |
| Support | Drawings, build-ups, BOQ and material that arrives complete |
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 Honolulu, then road or inter-island onward. Air freight for samples only.
Questions from Hawaii projects
What makes auditorium acoustics and soundproofing different in Hawaii?
Churches, school gyms and multipurpose halls double as performance spaces, which means a room designed for neither speech nor music has to carry both. This is one of the longest legs we run. Ordering to a real schedule matters more here than anywhere, so we quote the full window.
Where should the budget go first on a Hawaii 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 Hawaii?
No. We manufacture in India and supply into Hawaii. 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 Hawaii site?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Honolulu, then road or inter-island onward, 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 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.