For projects in Istanbul
Auditorium acoustics and soundproofing in Istanbul
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. Mosques, cultural centres and function halls are tall hard volumes carrying amplified speech.
- 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 / What it is
The product, described honestly, for a Istanbul brief
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.
Mosques, cultural centres and function halls are tall hard volumes carrying amplified speech.
Work reaching us from Istanbul is mostly apartment blocks, hotels, offices and towers, restaurants, hospitals, schools.
- Built to move Seismic detailing means junctions that must stay flexible. An acoustic build-up cannot stiffen across a movement joint.
- Concrete blocks, live rooms The structure carries mass, so the recurring problems are impact through slabs and interiors with nothing soft in them.
- A city that never goes quiet Traffic, ferries and street life reach rooms through glazing rather than walls. Fix the facade path before the wall.
- 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 Istanbul.
02 / The build-up
What goes where, from the structure in
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Layer 1
PET felt acoustic panels
A rigid non-woven panel pressed from 100% polyester fibre, a large part of it recycled. In Istanbul, split units and VRF with condensers on facades and in light wells close to bedrooms.
Over a porous backing. Panel over mineral or PET backing where the room needs genuine low mid control.
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Layer 2
Ceiling baffles and clouds
PET felt suspended from the soffit, vertically as baffles or horizontally as clouds. In Istanbul, mosques, cultural centres and function halls are tall hard volumes carrying amplified speech.
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 Istanbul, classrooms are concrete and tile with large class sizes and long hard corridors.
Loose lay on tackifier. Tiles lifted individually for access under a raised floor, which is why tile beats broadloom in an office.
We would rather argue about the build-up at design stage than on site. See how we support architects.
03 / Local conditions
What we see driving Istanbul briefs
- Built to move
Seismic detailing means junctions that must stay flexible. An acoustic build-up cannot stiffen across a movement joint.
- Concrete blocks, live rooms
The structure carries mass, so the recurring problems are impact through slabs and interiors with nothing soft in them.
- A city that never goes quiet
Traffic, ferries and street life reach rooms through glazing rather than walls. Fix the facade path before the wall.
- Turkey manufactures too
Domestic supply exists, so we are worth importing where the specification, the colour consistency or the supply chain is the reason.
- Assembly and performance rooms
Mosques, cultural centres and function halls are tall hard volumes carrying amplified speech.
- School and campus buildings
Classrooms are concrete and tile with large class sizes and long hard corridors.
04 / Room by room
What each space in a Istanbul project needs
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Reverberation time
Set against use. Speech and music want different numbers, and a dual use hall needs a decision. Seismic detailing means junctions that must stay flexible. An acoustic build-up cannot stiffen across a movement joint.
- PET felt acoustic panels, 100% PET non-woven, no added binder
- Ceiling baffles and clouds, 9 to 24 mm
- 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. The structure carries mass, so the recurring problems are impact through slabs and interiors with nothing soft in them.
- PET felt acoustic panels, 9, 12, 18 and 24 mm standard, tolerance plus or minus 5 percent
- Ceiling baffles and clouds, Made to the drawing, standard and custom
- Acoustic carpet and rugs, Felt
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Rear wall
The single worst surface in most halls, and the first one to treat. Traffic, ferries and street life reach rooms through glazing rather than walls. Fix the facade path before the wall.
- PET felt acoustic panels, 4 to 24 mm
- Ceiling baffles and clouds, Both faces work, which is why suspended area outperforms the same area laid flat
- 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
Durability in Istanbul, before acoustics is discussed
Istanbul is hot dry summers and mild wet winters, and that narrows the material list before acoustics is discussed.
The swing between a dry summer and a wet winter moves timber. PET felt is dimensionally stable across that swing; slat panels want a stable substrate and a ventilated fixing.
The failure we design against here is seasonal movement in timber and winter damp in unheated stock.
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 / Read this first
The six errors that cost the most
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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
It sounds like a small detail until the room is finished and the complaint arrives.
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Treating it as a generic Istanbul job
Seismic detailing means junctions that must stay flexible. An acoustic build-up cannot stiffen across a movement joint.
05 / Getting it there
Supply into Istanbul, start to site
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Ambarlı or Mersin, then road to site |
| Dispatch | 4 to 7 working days |
| Freight | Sea via Ambarlı |
| 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 Ambarlı or Mersin, then road to site. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
Questions from Istanbul projects
What makes auditorium acoustics and soundproofing different in Istanbul?
Mosques, cultural centres and function halls are tall hard volumes carrying amplified speech. Seismic detailing means junctions that must stay flexible. An acoustic build-up cannot stiffen across a movement joint.
Where should the budget go first on a Istanbul 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 Istanbul?
No. We manufacture in India and supply into Istanbul. 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 Istanbul site?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Ambarlı or Mersin, 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?
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
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.