For projects in Madrid
Hospital and healthcare acoustics in Madrid
Two duties at once: privacy where confidential conversations happen, and a lower noise floor where people are trying to rest. Hygiene and cleanability rule out a lot of products before acoustics is even discussed. Split and multi-split systems dominate, with condensers in patios and light wells that act as reverberant shafts.
- Consulting room privacy
- Speech privacy between rooms, which is partition, door and ceiling void work.
- Ward noise floor
- Alarms, trolleys and staff conversation in hard corridors. Absorption at the ceiling.
- Cleanability
- Non shedding, non absorbent surfaces that survive a cleaning regime.
- Quote
- From a plan and a section, within 48 hours
01 / What it is
The material, and what it actually does on a Madrid job
Two duties at once: privacy where confidential conversations happen, and a lower noise floor where people are trying to rest. Hygiene and cleanability rule out a lot of products before acoustics is even discussed.
Split and multi-split systems dominate, with condensers in patios and light wells that act as reverberant shafts.
Work reaching us from Madrid is mostly ensanche apartments, Castellana office floors, restaurants, hotels, clinics, studios, schools.
- Ensanche blocks share everything The classic Madrid block stacks flats around a central patio with shared walls and slabs. Footfall and speech move between homes, which is a mass and isolation problem, not a panel problem.
- Castellana floors have nothing soft Tower and corporate floors run glass to glass with raised floors and exposed slabs. Speech carries because there is nowhere for it to land, so the ceiling has to do the work.
- A city that eats and drinks late Bars and restaurants run long hours directly under apartments. The complaint is almost always low frequency and footfall, and it arrives fast.
- Consulting room privacy Speech privacy between rooms, which is partition, door and ceiling void work.
Full specification
Thickness, density, NRC by frequency, fire class, standard sizes and build-up detail for healthcare acoustics are on the main product page. This page covers what that means for a project in Madrid.
02 / The build-up
What goes where, from the structure in
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Layer 1
Ceiling baffles and clouds
PET felt suspended from the soffit, vertically as baffles or horizontally as clouds. In Madrid, split and multi-split systems dominate, with condensers in patios and light wells that act as reverberant shafts.
Horizontal clouds. Flat rafts over the occupied zone, which also reflect early speech energy back down where it helps.
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Layer 2
SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl
A limp, high density sheet that adds mass to a partition, floor or duct without adding depth. In Madrid, churches, civic auditoriums and hotel function rooms are stone and plaster volumes with very long decay times.
Duct and plant wrap. Membrane wrapped over the duct with a decoupling layer beneath, sealed at every lap.
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Layer 3
Acoustic panels
The full absorber range rather than one product: plain PET felt, printed felt, grooved panels and fabric finishes, chosen by how the room is used and how it has to look. In Madrid, school buildings are concrete and tile with high ceilings and hard floors, and dining halls are the loudest rooms in the building.
Mixed finish. Plain felt where it is out of eye line, printed or grooved where it is seen.
We would rather argue about the build-up at design stage than on site. See how we support architects.
03 / On the ground
What we see driving Madrid briefs
- Ensanche blocks share everything
The classic Madrid block stacks flats around a central patio with shared walls and slabs. Footfall and speech move between homes, which is a mass and isolation problem, not a panel problem.
- Castellana floors have nothing soft
Tower and corporate floors run glass to glass with raised floors and exposed slabs. Speech carries because there is nowhere for it to land, so the ceiling has to do the work.
- A city that eats and drinks late
Bars and restaurants run long hours directly under apartments. The complaint is almost always low frequency and footfall, and it arrives fast.
- Closed up against the heat
Once a room is sealed and air conditioned it stops leaking sound outward and starts building it up inside. Absorption has to be balanced, not maximised.
- Plant and HVAC
Split and multi-split systems dominate, with condensers in patios and light wells that act as reverberant shafts.
04 / Room by room
Space by space, for Madrid briefs
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Consulting room privacy
Speech privacy between rooms, which is partition, door and ceiling void work. The classic Madrid block stacks flats around a central patio with shared walls and slabs. Footfall and speech move between homes, which is a mass and isolation problem, not a panel problem.
- PET felt acoustic panels, 100% PET non-woven, no added binder
- Ceiling baffles and clouds, 9 to 24 mm
- Acoustic panels, Cut pattern in PET felt, adds visual rhythm without changing the absorber
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Ward noise floor
Alarms, trolleys and staff conversation in hard corridors. Absorption at the ceiling. Tower and corporate floors run glass to glass with raised floors and exposed slabs. Speech carries because there is nowhere for it to land, so the ceiling has to do the work.
- 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 panels, ASTM C423
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Cleanability
Non shedding, non absorbent surfaces that survive a cleaning regime. Bars and restaurants run long hours directly under apartments. The complaint is almost always low frequency and footfall, and it arrives fast.
- 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 panels, 9 to 24 mm, 1220 x 2440 mm standard, up to 2440 x 4270 mm, 1200 to 3600 GSM
Interior designers tend to arrive with the look already decided. We will tell you which finish gets there without losing the acoustics. See how we work with interior designers.
04 / Climate
The Madrid climate decides the material list
Madrid 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.
Where a consultant is already engaged on a Madrid project, we supply to their specification and send the test reports rather than describing them. More on working with acoustic consultants.
06 / Read this first
Six mistakes that turn into a second fit-out
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Fabric wrapped products in a clinical area
Plant noise treated as a room problem is the most reliable way to spend a budget and change nothing anyone can hear.
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Absorption used where privacy was the requirement
Nobody has ever achieved speech privacy with a panel. Privacy needs mass, a sealed head detail and a door that actually closes.
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Ceiling void left open above a partition
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 it as a generic Madrid job
The classic Madrid block stacks flats around a central patio with shared walls and slabs. Footfall and speech move between homes, which is a mass and isolation problem, not a panel problem.
05 / Logistics
What the route into Madrid actually looks like
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Valencia or Barcelona, then road inland to Madrid |
| Dispatch | 4 to 7 working days |
| Freight | Sea, then road inland |
| 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 Valencia or Barcelona, then road inland to Madrid. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
Questions from Madrid projects
What makes hospital and healthcare acoustics different in Madrid?
Split and multi-split systems dominate, with condensers in patios and light wells that act as reverberant shafts. The classic Madrid block stacks flats around a central patio with shared walls and slabs. Footfall and speech move between homes, which is a mass and isolation problem, not a panel problem.
Where should the budget go first on a Madrid project?
Consulting room privacy. Speech privacy between rooms, which is partition, door and ceiling void work. Ward noise floor. Alarms, trolleys and staff conversation in hard corridors. Absorption at the ceiling.
Do you have an office or installation team in Madrid?
No. We manufacture in India and supply into Madrid. 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 Madrid site?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Valencia or Barcelona, then road inland to Madrid, 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?
Fabric wrapped products in a clinical area. Absorption used where privacy was the requirement.
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
A plan and a section is enough. We will come back with a build-up, a BOQ and a delivered date, and we will say so if what you are asking for will not work.