For projects in Portugal
Auditorium acoustics and soundproofing in Portugal
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. Church buildings, civic auditoria and function rooms are stone volumes with very long decay.
- 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 / The material
What you are buying, and what it fixes in Portugal
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.
Church buildings, civic auditoria and function rooms are stone volumes with very long decay.
Work reaching us from Portugal is mostly hotel and apartment conversions, restaurants, offices, clinics, schools, studios.
- Conversion, not construction The structure is staying. Whatever we propose has to work inside the depth and the finishes that are already there, which rules out most thick framed systems.
- Timber floors in old buildings Footfall passes straight down through the joists. A resilient layer under the new finish does more than anything applied to the ceiling below.
- Atlantic damp Our PET felt does not absorb moisture, shed fibre or feed mould, which matters on cold external walls in a mild wet climate where mineral products sag.
- 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 Portugal.
02 / The build-up
How the layers stack, from the structure inwards
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Layer 1
Wooden slat acoustic panels
Timber slats on an acoustic backing. In Portugal, split units with condensers in courtyards and light wells, plus seasonal heating in cold damp winters.
Slats on a cavity. Backing plus an air gap behind moves absorption lower, which matters in music rooms.
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Layer 2
Ceiling baffles and clouds
PET felt suspended from the soffit, vertically as baffles or horizontally as clouds. In Portugal, church buildings, civic auditoria and function rooms are stone volumes with very long decay.
Horizontal clouds. Flat rafts over the occupied zone, which also reflect early speech energy back down where it helps.
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Layer 3
Acoustic carpet and rugs
A tile carpet with a dense polyester face on a felt backing. In Portugal, school buildings are hard surfaced with high ceilings, and canteens are the loudest rooms.
Over a resilient underlay. Where impact noise to the floor below is the actual complaint, the underlay does that work, not the carpet.
Architects working in Portugal 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 / What drives the brief
The Portugal conditions that change the answer
- Conversion, not construction
The structure is staying. Whatever we propose has to work inside the depth and the finishes that are already there, which rules out most thick framed systems.
- Timber floors in old buildings
Footfall passes straight down through the joists. A resilient layer under the new finish does more than anything applied to the ceiling below.
- Atlantic damp
Our PET felt does not absorb moisture, shed fibre or feed mould, which matters on cold external walls in a mild wet climate where mineral products sag.
- Tourism programmes have fixed dates
Hotel openings do not move. We give honest dispatch and transit windows so the fit-out is not waiting on a container.
- Assembly and performance rooms
Church buildings, civic auditoria and function rooms are stone volumes with very long decay.
- School and campus buildings
School buildings are hard surfaced with high ceilings, and canteens are the loudest rooms.
04 / Room by room
Room by room, on a typical Portugal job
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Reverberation time
Set against use. Speech and music want different numbers, and a dual use hall needs a decision. The structure is staying. Whatever we propose has to work inside the depth and the finishes that are already there, which rules out most thick framed systems.
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 1200 x 600 mm
- PET felt acoustic panels, 9, 12, 18 and 24 mm standard, tolerance plus or minus 5 percent
- 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. Footfall passes straight down through the joists. A resilient layer under the new finish does more than anything applied to the ceiling below.
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 20 mm
- PET felt acoustic panels, 4 to 24 mm
- Acoustic carpet and rugs, Felt
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Rear wall
The single worst surface in most halls, and the first one to treat. Our PET felt does not absorb moisture, shed fibre or feed mould, which matters on cold external walls in a mild wet climate where mineral products sag.
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 400 kg per cubic metre
- PET felt acoustic panels, 1220 x 2440 mm standard, 4 x 8 ft
- 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 / Climate and durability
Durability in Portugal, before acoustics is discussed
Portugal is hot dry summers and mild wet winters, and that narrows the material list before acoustics is discussed.
The swing between a dry summer and a wet winter moves timber. PET felt is dimensionally stable across that swing; slat panels want a stable substrate and a ventilated fixing.
The failure we design against here is seasonal movement in timber and winter damp in unheated stock.
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 / Worth knowing
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
This is the one that comes back as a second fit-out rather than a snag.
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Ignoring the rear wall because it is behind the audience
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 Portugal job
The structure is staying. Whatever we propose has to work inside the depth and the finishes that are already there, which rules out most thick framed systems.
05 / Logistics
How material reaches a Portugal site
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Sines, Lisbon or Leixões, then road to site |
| Dispatch | 4 to 7 working days |
| Freight | Sea via Sines or Lisbon |
| 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 Sines, Lisbon or Leixões, then road to site. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
Questions from Portugal projects
What makes auditorium acoustics and soundproofing different in Portugal?
Church buildings, civic auditoria and function rooms are stone volumes with very long decay. The structure is staying. Whatever we propose has to work inside the depth and the finishes that are already there, which rules out most thick framed systems.
Where should the budget go first on a Portugal 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 Portugal?
No. We manufacture in India and supply into Portugal. 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 Portugal site?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Sines, Lisbon or Leixões, then road 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?
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
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.