For projects in New York
Venue and restaurant acoustics in New York
Two different jobs that get quoted as one: keeping bass inside the building for the neighbours, and making the room comfortable enough that guests can talk. Solving one does nothing for the other. Churches, school gyms and multipurpose halls double as performance spaces, which means a room designed for neither speech nor music has to carry both.
- Containment
- Low frequency through structure to flats above and beside. Mass, decoupling and a sealed envelope.
- Table level comfort
- Absorption at the ceiling so guests stop raising their voices at each other.
- Entrance and service
- Doors, lobbies and extract paths, which is where most of the leakage actually is.
- Quote
- From a plan and a section, within 48 hours
01 / Start here
The product, described honestly, for a New York brief
Two different jobs that get quoted as one: keeping bass inside the building for the neighbours, and making the room comfortable enough that guests can talk. Solving one does nothing for the other.
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.
- Containment Low frequency through structure to flats above and beside. Mass, decoupling and a sealed envelope.
Full specification
Thickness, density, NRC by frequency, fire class, standard sizes and build-up detail for venue soundproofing are on the main product page. This page covers what that means for a project in New York.
Nightclub and venue soundproofing SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl
02 / The build-up
What goes where, from the structure in
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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 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.
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
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, churches, school gyms and multipurpose halls double as performance spaces, which means a room designed for neither speech nor music has to carry both.
Resilient bar. Where a full independent leaf will not fit. Effective, and very easy to short circuit with one wrong screw.
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Layer 3
Wooden slat acoustic panels
Timber slats on an acoustic 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.
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.
If you are specifying for a New York project, we can give you a section, a BOQ and the honest limits of each layer. See how we support architects.
03 / On the ground
What we see driving New York briefs
- 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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Containment
Low frequency through structure to flats above and beside. Mass, decoupling and a sealed envelope. 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
- Acoustic carpet and rugs, High density polyester
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Table level comfort
Absorption at the ceiling so guests stop raising their voices at each other. 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
- Acoustic carpet and rugs, Felt
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Entrance and service
Doors, lobbies and extract paths, which is where most of the leakage actually is. 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
- Acoustic carpet and rugs, 64 sq ft per pack
For a New York interior where the finish leads, we will say plainly what each option costs you acoustically. See how we work with interior designers.
04 / Conditions
The New York climate decides the material list
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 / Straight talk
Where this kind of project usually fails
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Panels on the wall as a neighbour noise solution
It sounds like a small detail until the room is finished and the complaint arrives.
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A lobby with both doors able to open at once
A gap undoes the partition it sits in. Sealing is the cheapest line on the quote and the first one to get cut.
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Extract ducting that bypasses every wall you built
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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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 / Supply
What the route into New York actually looks like
| 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 venue and restaurant acoustics 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?
Containment. Low frequency through structure to flats above and beside. Mass, decoupling and a sealed envelope. Table level comfort. Absorption at the ceiling so guests stop raising their voices at each other.
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?
Panels on the wall as a neighbour noise solution. A lobby with both doors able to open at once.
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
Drawings in, BOQ and a delivered date out
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.