For projects in Mecca
HVAC, plant and machine noise control in Mecca
Noise with a source. Almost every honest fix is at the machine, the duct or the plant room, and almost nothing useful happens by lining the far wall of the occupied space. Cooling runs year round at high load, so chillers, AHUs and large duct runs are constant sources. Plant room lining and duct attenuation carry most of the result.
- At source
- Enclosure, barrier or anti vibration mounts at the machine.
- In the path
- Duct lining, attenuators and lagging on the first run out of the plant.
- At the receiver
- Only after the first two, and only for what is left.
- Quote
- From a plan and a section, within 48 hours
01 / What it is
The material, and what it actually does on a Mecca job
Noise with a source. Almost every honest fix is at the machine, the duct or the plant room, and almost nothing useful happens by lining the far wall of the occupied space.
Cooling runs year round at high load, so chillers, AHUs and large duct runs are constant sources. Plant room lining and duct attenuation carry most of the result.
Work reaching us from Mecca is mostly hotel guest rooms and corridors, lobbies, assembly and function halls, offices, clinics.
- Rooms occupied around the clock In peak season somebody is always asleep and somebody is always in the corridor. Guest room isolation carries the whole guest experience, and door and corridor details cause more complaints than walls do.
- Refurbishment windows do not move Work happens between seasons, on dates fixed long in advance. We give real dispatch and transit dates so the programme is not waiting on a container that will not land in time.
- Repeat detail at scale A thousand rooms means the same build-up a thousand times. Consistent thickness and density across the whole order matters more than the headline figure on any one sheet.
- At source Enclosure, barrier or anti vibration mounts at the machine.
Full specification
Thickness, density, NRC by frequency, fire class, standard sizes and build-up detail for HVAC and plant noise control are on the main product page. This page covers what that means for a project in Mecca.
02 / The build-up
How the layers stack, from the structure inwards
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Layer 1
SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl
A limp, high density sheet that adds mass to a partition, floor or duct without adding depth. In Mecca, cooling runs year round at high load, so chillers, AHUs and large duct runs are constant sources. Plant room lining and duct attenuation carry most of the result.
Wall, decoupled. Independent stud, membrane between the boards, cavity absorption, two boards. The membrane is one part of a system, never the whole answer.
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Layer 2
Acoustic foam and BassBloc
Open cell foam shapes for high frequency control, and BassBloc, a high density absorber built for the low mid range where ordinary foam does nothing. In Mecca, mosques, conference halls and hotel ballrooms are tall hard volumes where intelligibility over a long reverberation tail is the whole brief.
Corner loading. Low frequency energy collects in corners, so absorber in the corners does more than the same area spread across a wall.
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Layer 3
Ceiling baffles and clouds
PET felt suspended from the soffit, vertically as baffles or horizontally as clouds. In Mecca, new school and university buildings are large, hard and highly glazed. Lecture theatres and sports halls are the spaces that fail first, and ceiling absorption is the practical fix.
Vertical baffles. Hung on edge in rows. Both faces absorb, so coverage figures based on plan area understate them.
If you are specifying for a Mecca project, we can give you a section, a BOQ and the honest limits of each layer. See how we support architects.
03 / In this market
What decides the build-up in Mecca
- Rooms occupied around the clock
In peak season somebody is always asleep and somebody is always in the corridor. Guest room isolation carries the whole guest experience, and door and corridor details cause more complaints than walls do.
- Refurbishment windows do not move
Work happens between seasons, on dates fixed long in advance. We give real dispatch and transit dates so the programme is not waiting on a container that will not land in time.
- Repeat detail at scale
A thousand rooms means the same build-up a thousand times. Consistent thickness and density across the whole order matters more than the headline figure on any one sheet.
- Halls built for crowds
Large assembly and function spaces in hard concrete carry long reverberation. Speech stops being intelligible long before the room sounds obviously wrong.
- Plant and HVAC
Cooling runs year round at high load, so chillers, AHUs and large duct runs are constant sources. Plant room lining and duct attenuation carry most of the result.
04 / Room by room
Room by room, on a typical Mecca job
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At source
Enclosure, barrier or anti vibration mounts at the machine. In peak season somebody is always asleep and somebody is always in the corridor. Guest room isolation carries the whole guest experience, and door and corridor details cause more complaints than walls do.
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 1200 x 600 mm
- Acoustic foam and BassBloc, 20 mm
- Ceiling baffles and clouds, Made to the drawing, standard and custom
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In the path
Duct lining, attenuators and lagging on the first run out of the plant. Work happens between seasons, on dates fixed long in advance. We give real dispatch and transit dates so the programme is not waiting on a container that will not land in time.
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 20 mm
- Acoustic foam and BassBloc, 100 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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At the receiver
Only after the first two, and only for what is left. A thousand rooms means the same build-up a thousand times. Consistent thickness and density across the whole order matters more than the headline figure on any one sheet.
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 400 kg per cubic metre
- Acoustic foam and BassBloc, 100 to 500 Hz
- Ceiling baffles and clouds, ASTM C423
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 / Conditions
Why the climate in Mecca changes the material, not the target
Mecca 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.
Where a consultant is already engaged on a Mecca 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
The six errors that cost the most
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Absorption on the office wall for a plant room problem
Noise with a source is fixed at the source. Treating the receiving room is the expensive way to get a small result.
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Lagging a duct that is carrying the noise as breakout from the fan
Noise with a source is fixed at the source. Treating the receiving room is the expensive way to get a small result.
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Ignoring structure borne vibration through the mounts
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 Mecca job
In peak season somebody is always asleep and somebody is always in the corridor. Guest room isolation carries the whole guest experience, and door and corridor details cause more complaints than walls do.
05 / Route to site
Getting it to Mecca, with real dates
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Jeddah, then a short road run to site |
| Dispatch | 4 to 7 working days |
| Freight | Sea via Jeddah |
| 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 Jeddah, then a short road run to site. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
Questions from Mecca projects
What makes HVAC, plant and machine noise control different in Mecca?
Cooling runs year round at high load, so chillers, AHUs and large duct runs are constant sources. Plant room lining and duct attenuation carry most of the result. In peak season somebody is always asleep and somebody is always in the corridor. Guest room isolation carries the whole guest experience, and door and corridor details cause more complaints than walls do.
Where should the budget go first on a Mecca project?
At source. Enclosure, barrier or anti vibration mounts at the machine. In the path. Duct lining, attenuators and lagging on the first run out of the plant.
Do you have an office or installation team in Mecca?
No. We manufacture in India and supply into Mecca. 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 Mecca site?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Jeddah, then a short road run 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?
Absorption on the office wall for a plant room problem. Lagging a duct that is carrying the noise as breakout from the fan.
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
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.