For projects in Melbourne
Auditorium acoustics and soundproofing in Melbourne
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. School halls, community centres and church buildings carry assembly, performance and sport in one hard volume.
- 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 / Start here
What you are buying, and what it fixes in Melbourne
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.
School halls, community centres and church buildings carry assembly, performance and sport in one hard volume.
Work reaching us from Melbourne is mostly live music venues, Victorian terraces, apartments, offices, schools, studios, clinics.
- Venues that were there first Live rooms in old warehouses with new apartments built alongside. Containment of low frequency is what keeps them operating.
- Victorian terraces Single skin brick party walls and timber floors. Speech and footfall move between houses easily and mass is the only reliable answer.
- The port is in the city Direct sea into Melbourne keeps the road leg short, though the sea leg itself is long and we quote it fully.
- 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 Melbourne.
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 Melbourne, ducted systems and split units, with outdoor units close to boundaries where neighbour noise limits apply.
Slats on felt backing. The standard. Absorption comes from the backing behind the gaps, so the slat gap ratio is an acoustic decision, not only a visual one.
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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 Melbourne, school halls, community centres and church buildings carry assembly, performance and sport in one hard volume.
Over a porous backing. Panel over mineral or PET backing where the room needs genuine low mid control.
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Layer 3
Acoustic carpet and rugs
A tile carpet with a dense polyester face on a felt backing. In Melbourne, school buildings run hard floors and high ceilings, and open plan learning areas make speech intelligibility the central problem rather than echo.
Loose lay on tackifier. Tiles lifted individually for access under a raised floor, which is why tile beats broadloom in an office.
Architects working in Melbourne 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 / Local conditions
The Melbourne conditions that change the answer
- Venues that were there first
Live rooms in old warehouses with new apartments built alongside. Containment of low frequency is what keeps them operating.
- Victorian terraces
Single skin brick party walls and timber floors. Speech and footfall move between houses easily and mass is the only reliable answer.
- The port is in the city
Direct sea into Melbourne keeps the road leg short, though the sea leg itself is long and we quote it fully.
- Variable climate, sealed rooms
Heating and cooling run hard across the year, so rooms stay closed and sound accumulates inside.
- Assembly and performance rooms
School halls, community centres and church buildings carry assembly, performance and sport in one hard volume.
- School and campus buildings
School buildings run hard floors and high ceilings, and open plan learning areas make speech intelligibility the central problem rather than echo.
04 / Room by room
Where the money goes on a Melbourne project
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Reverberation time
Set against use. Speech and music want different numbers, and a dual use hall needs a decision. Live rooms in old warehouses with new apartments built alongside. Containment of low frequency is what keeps them operating.
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 1200 x 600 mm
- 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. Single skin brick party walls and timber floors. Speech and footfall move between houses easily and mass is the only reliable answer.
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 20 mm
- 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. Direct sea into Melbourne keeps the road leg short, though the sea leg itself is long and we quote it fully.
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 400 kg per cubic metre
- 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
Designers get colour, pattern and CNC options with the absorption figure attached to each. See how we work with interior designers.
04 / Durability
Why the climate in Melbourne changes the material, not the target
Melbourne 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.
Consultants get the raw data, not a sales sheet. That is the whole of our side of the job, and it is set out under working with acoustic consultants.
06 / Before you buy
Six mistakes that turn into a second fit-out
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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
Small on the drawing, expensive on site, and almost always found after handover.
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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 Melbourne job
Live rooms in old warehouses with new apartments built alongside. Containment of low frequency is what keeps them operating.
05 / Supply
How material reaches a Melbourne site
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Port of Melbourne, then a short road run to site |
| Dispatch | 4 to 7 working days |
| Freight | Sea via Port of Melbourne |
| 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 the Port of Melbourne, then a short road run to site. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
Questions from Melbourne projects
What makes auditorium acoustics and soundproofing different in Melbourne?
School halls, community centres and church buildings carry assembly, performance and sport in one hard volume. Live rooms in old warehouses with new apartments built alongside. Containment of low frequency is what keeps them operating.
Where should the budget go first on a Melbourne 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 Melbourne?
No. We manufacture in India and supply into Melbourne. 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 Melbourne site?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Port of Melbourne, then a short road run to site, 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
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.