For projects in New York
Cinema and multiplex soundproofing in New York
Screens stacked beside and above each other, each running full range at high level. Bleed between auditoria is the failure everyone hears, and it is decided by the shell, not the finishes. Churches, school gyms and multipurpose halls double as performance spaces, which means a room designed for neither speech nor music has to carry both.
- Screen to screen
- Independent construction between auditoria, with services broken at the line.
- In room response
- Heavy absorption on side and rear walls so the mix is heard as intended.
- Plant and projection
- Equipment noise into the auditorium, treated at source.
- Quote
- From a plan and a section, within 48 hours
01 / What it is
The material, and what it actually does on a New York job
Screens stacked beside and above each other, each running full range at high level. Bleed between auditoria is the failure everyone hears, and it is decided by the shell, not the finishes.
Churches, school gyms and multipurpose halls double as performance spaces, which means a room designed for neither speech nor music has to carry both.
Work reaching us from New York is mostly pre-war apartments, brownstones, offices, studios, restaurants, clinics, schools.
- Boards decide the build-up Co-op and condo rules on floor coverings and separating construction usually set the requirement before any acoustic target does. Get the rule first, then design to it.
- Pre-war buildings, timber floors Older stock passes footfall straight down through the joists. A resilient layer under the finish does more than anything applied to the ceiling below.
- Depth is expensive here Floor area costs enough that a wall growing a hundred millimetres into the room is a real number. Thin and effective beats thick and theoretical.
- Screen to screen Independent construction between auditoria, with services broken at the line.
Full specification
Thickness, density, NRC by frequency, fire class, standard sizes and build-up detail for cinema soundproofing are on the main product page. This page covers what that means for a project in New York.
02 / The build-up
What goes where, from the structure in
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Layer 1
Soundproofing materials
The blocking side of the range taken together: mass loaded vinyl, resilient layers, cavity absorption and the build-ups they belong in. In New York, packaged rooftop units and ducted forced air are standard, so noise arrives through the duct rather than through the wall. Lining the first three metres of duct and treating the return path is usually the whole job.
Independent leaf. A second wall that does not touch the first. Nothing else comes close for the money.
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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 New York, churches, school gyms and multipurpose halls double as performance spaces, which means a room designed for neither speech nor music has to carry both.
Ceiling first. In most rooms the ceiling is the largest untreated surface and the cheapest square metre of result.
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Layer 3
Acoustic carpet and rugs
A tile carpet with a dense polyester face on a felt backing. In New York, public school buildings run long corridors with hard floors and lay-in tile ceilings that were chosen for cost, not for speech. Classroom reverberation and corridor spill are the two complaints, and both respond to ceiling area rather than wall panels.
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 / On the ground
The New York conditions that change the answer
- Boards decide the build-up
Co-op and condo rules on floor coverings and separating construction usually set the requirement before any acoustic target does. Get the rule first, then design to it.
- Pre-war buildings, timber floors
Older stock passes footfall straight down through the joists. A resilient layer under the finish does more than anything applied to the ceiling below.
- Depth is expensive here
Floor area costs enough that a wall growing a hundred millimetres into the room is a real number. Thin and effective beats thick and theoretical.
- Subway and street
Ground level and underground rail put low frequency into the structure. Panels on a wall will not touch it and we will say so.
- Assembly and performance rooms
Churches, school gyms and multipurpose halls double as performance spaces, which means a room designed for neither speech nor music has to carry both.
04 / Room by room
Room by room, on a typical New York job
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Screen to screen
Independent construction between auditoria, with services broken at the line. Co-op and condo rules on floor coverings and separating construction usually set the requirement before any acoustic target does. Get the rule first, then design to it.
- Soundproofing materials, 2100 kg per cubic metre. 2.5 mm STC 30 at 5.25 kg per sq m, 4 mm STC 34 at 8.4, 6 mm at 12.6
- Acoustic panels, 1800 x 900 mm, image printed into the felt rather than onto a facing
- PET felt acoustic panels, 4 to 24 mm
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In room response
Heavy absorption on side and rear walls so the mix is heard as intended. Older stock passes footfall straight down through the joists. A resilient layer under the finish does more than anything applied to the ceiling below.
- Soundproofing materials, 1800 x 900 x 20 mm, 100 kg per cubic metre, NRC 0.85
- Acoustic panels, Cut pattern in PET felt, adds visual rhythm without changing the absorber
- PET felt acoustic panels, 1220 x 2440 mm standard, 4 x 8 ft
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Plant and projection
Equipment noise into the auditorium, treated at source. Floor area costs enough that a wall growing a hundred millimetres into the room is a real number. Thin and effective beats thick and theoretical.
- Soundproofing materials, Mass, then decoupling, then cavity absorption, then sealing
- Acoustic panels, ASTM C423
- PET felt acoustic panels, 2440 x 4270 mm, 2.44 x 4.27 m, 8 x 14 ft
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 and durability
What the New York climate rules in and rules out
New York is mild summers and cold, wet winters, and that narrows the material list before acoustics is discussed.
Cold external walls and long heating seasons make condensation behind a lining the thing to design out. PET felt is unaffected by damp air.
The failure we design against here is condensation and cold bridging behind new linings.
On a New York job with a consultant involved, our part is material that matches the submitted data. See working with acoustic consultants.
06 / Before you buy
Six mistakes that turn into a second fit-out
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A shared service void running across the wall line
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 the auditorium to fix bleed from the next screen
This is the one that comes back as a second fit-out rather than a snag.
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Doors and lobbies specified late and undersized
Soundproofing fails at the gaps, not the materials. One unsealed service penetration can undo a correctly built wall.
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Treating it as a generic New York job
Co-op and condo rules on floor coverings and separating construction usually set the requirement before any acoustic target does. Get the rule first, then design to it.
05 / Getting it there
Supply into New York, start to site
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Port of New York and New Jersey, then a short road run |
| Dispatch | 4 to 7 working days |
| Freight | Sea into New York |
| 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 New York and New Jersey, then a short road run to site. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
Questions from New York projects
What makes cinema and multiplex soundproofing different in New York?
Churches, school gyms and multipurpose halls double as performance spaces, which means a room designed for neither speech nor music has to carry both. Co-op and condo rules on floor coverings and separating construction usually set the requirement before any acoustic target does. Get the rule first, then design to it.
Where should the budget go first on a New York project?
Screen to screen. Independent construction between auditoria, with services broken at the line. In room response. Heavy absorption on side and rear walls so the mix is heard as intended.
Do you have an office or installation team in New York?
No. We manufacture in India and supply into New York. 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 New York site?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Port of New York and New Jersey, then a short road run, 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?
A shared service void running across the wall line. Treating the auditorium to fix bleed from the next screen.
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
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.