For projects in Mecca
Recording studio acoustics and soundproofing in Mecca
Two jobs that must not be confused: keeping the building out, and making the room honest inside. The first is mass and decoupling and has to be built first. The second is absorption and diffusion and can be tuned later. Media and content production is growing quickly, and rooms are being built inside existing commercial shells with no isolation plan. The background noise floor is usually the first problem to solve.
- Isolation
- A measured background level, agreed before anything is bought.
- Low frequency
- Corner and boundary absorption with real depth, not surface foam.
- Early reflections
- Controlled at the mix position, and only there.
- Quote
- From a plan and a section, within 48 hours
01 / Start here
What this material is and where it earns its place in Mecca
Two jobs that must not be confused: keeping the building out, and making the room honest inside. The first is mass and decoupling and has to be built first. The second is absorption and diffusion and can be tuned later.
Media and content production is growing quickly, and rooms are being built inside existing commercial shells with no isolation plan. The background noise floor is usually the first problem to solve.
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.
- Isolation A measured background level, agreed before anything is bought.
Full specification
Thickness, density, NRC by frequency, fire class, standard sizes and build-up detail for studio soundproofing 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
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, 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.
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 2
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 Mecca, mosques, conference halls and hotel ballrooms are tall hard volumes where intelligibility over a long reverberation tail is the whole brief.
Wall array. Panels placed at first reflection points rather than spread evenly. Fewer panels, better result.
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Layer 3
Soundproof curtains
A layered curtain with a mass loaded vinyl core, used where an opening has to stay an opening. 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.
Double layer at a doorway. Two curtains with an air gap where a single layer will not reach the target.
Architects working in Mecca usually need the build-up before the product. We will draw the section and mark what does the work. See how we support architects.
03 / In this market
What we see driving Mecca briefs
- 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.
- The housing stock
Villas and apartment blocks are concrete and block with hard stone or tile throughout. Mass is there, but every room is live and impact noise between floors is untreated.
- The studio and content scene
Media and content production is growing quickly, and rooms are being built inside existing commercial shells with no isolation plan. The background noise floor is usually the first problem to solve.
04 / Room by room
Where the money goes on a Mecca project
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Isolation
A measured background level, agreed before anything is bought. 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.
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, 2100 kg per cubic metre
- Acoustic panels, 1800 x 900 mm, image printed into the felt rather than onto a facing
- Soundproof curtains, 5.5 kg per sq m
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Low frequency
Corner and boundary absorption with real depth, not surface foam. 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.
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, STC 30, 5.25 kg per sq m
- Acoustic panels, Cut pattern in PET felt, adds visual rhythm without changing the absorber
- Soundproof curtains, Up to 30 dB
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Early reflections
Controlled at the mix position, and only there. 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.
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, STC 34, 8.4 kg per sq m
- Acoustic panels, ASTM C423
- Soundproof curtains, 30
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 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 / Worth knowing
The six errors that cost the most
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Buying foam to solve an isolation problem
Small on the drawing, expensive on site, and almost always found after handover.
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Treating the room before the shell is isolated
It sounds like a small detail until the room is finished and the complaint arrives.
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Killing the room completely and calling it controlled
More absorption is not better absorption. Past the target the room goes flat and people raise their voices to compensate.
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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 / Getting it there
How material reaches a Mecca site
| 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 recording studio acoustics and soundproofing different in Mecca?
Media and content production is growing quickly, and rooms are being built inside existing commercial shells with no isolation plan. The background noise floor is usually the first problem to solve. 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?
Isolation. A measured background level, agreed before anything is bought. Low frequency. Corner and boundary absorption with real depth, not surface foam.
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?
Buying foam to solve an isolation problem. Treating the room before the shell is isolated.
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
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.