For projects in Riyadh
Auditorium acoustics and soundproofing in Riyadh
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. Mosques, conference halls and hotel ballrooms are tall hard volumes where intelligibility over a long reverberation tail is the whole brief.
- 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 this is, and what it changes in a Riyadh room
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.
Mosques, conference halls and hotel ballrooms are tall hard volumes where intelligibility over a long reverberation tail is the whole brief.
Work reaching us from Riyadh is mostly government and corporate buildings, hotels, large developments, hospitals, schools, auditoriums.
- Inland, so plan the road leg Dammam then several hundred kilometres by road. We quote the sea leg and the inland leg separately so the programme runs on real dates.
- Very large single orders Development-scale work means the same detail repeated across many buildings. Batch consistency matters more than the figure on any one sheet.
- Heat and sealed buildings Closed up with heavy cooling all year. Plant noise has nowhere to escape and rooms stay hard and live inside.
- 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 Riyadh.
02 / The build-up
The stack, in the order it is installed
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Layer 1
Wood wool acoustic panels
Wood fibre bound into a rigid board with an open texture. In Riyadh, 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.
With a porous backing. Board over mineral backing where the room needs more than the board alone gives.
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Layer 2
Wooden slat acoustic panels
Timber slats on an acoustic backing. In Riyadh, mosques, conference halls and hotel ballrooms are tall hard volumes where intelligibility over a long reverberation tail is the whole brief.
Slats on a cavity. Backing plus an air gap behind moves absorption lower, which matters in music rooms.
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Layer 3
Acoustic carpet and rugs
A tile carpet with a dense polyester face on a felt backing. In Riyadh, 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.
Zoned. Carpet in the circulation and meeting zones, hard floor elsewhere, so the treatment sits where the noise is made.
We would rather argue about the build-up at design stage than on site. See how we support architects.
03 / In this market
What decides the build-up in Riyadh
- Inland, so plan the road leg
Dammam then several hundred kilometres by road. We quote the sea leg and the inland leg separately so the programme runs on real dates.
- Very large single orders
Development-scale work means the same detail repeated across many buildings. Batch consistency matters more than the figure on any one sheet.
- Heat and sealed buildings
Closed up with heavy cooling all year. Plant noise has nowhere to escape and rooms stay hard and live inside.
- Assembly and briefing spaces
Large halls in concrete and stone where speech stops being intelligible well before the room sounds obviously wrong.
- Assembly and performance rooms
Mosques, conference halls and hotel ballrooms are tall hard volumes where intelligibility over a long reverberation tail is the whole brief.
- School and campus buildings
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.
04 / Room by room
Space by space, for Riyadh briefs
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Reverberation time
Set against use. Speech and music want different numbers, and a dual use hall needs a decision. Dammam then several hundred kilometres by road. We quote the sea leg and the inland leg separately so the programme runs on real dates.
- Wooden slat acoustic panels, MDF, FR MDF, HDF or HDHMR
- PET felt acoustic panels, 9, 12, 18 and 24 mm standard, tolerance plus or minus 5 percent
- Ceiling baffles and clouds, Made to the drawing, standard and custom
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Early reflections
Shaped surfaces that send energy to the rear seats rather than absorbing everything. Development-scale work means the same detail repeated across many buildings. Batch consistency matters more than the figure on any one sheet.
- Wooden slat acoustic panels, 13-3, 14-2, 28-4 and 59-5
- PET felt acoustic panels, 4 to 24 mm
- Ceiling baffles and clouds, Both faces work, which is why suspended area outperforms the same area laid flat
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Rear wall
The single worst surface in most halls, and the first one to treat. Closed up with heavy cooling all year. Plant noise has nowhere to escape and rooms stay hard and live inside.
- Wooden slat acoustic panels, 2440 x 192 mm and 2440 x 128 mm
- PET felt acoustic panels, 1220 x 2440 mm standard, 4 x 8 ft
- Ceiling baffles and clouds, ASTM C423
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
Why the climate in Riyadh changes the material, not the target
Riyadh 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 Riyadh project, we supply to their specification and send the test reports rather than describing them. More on working with acoustic consultants.
06 / Before you buy
The six errors that cost the most
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Absorbing the whole room and losing the back rows
Small on the drawing, expensive on site, and almost always found after handover.
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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
It sounds like a small detail until the room is finished and the complaint arrives.
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Treating it as a generic Riyadh job
Dammam then several hundred kilometres by road. We quote the sea leg and the inland leg separately so the programme runs on real dates.
05 / Logistics
How material reaches a Riyadh site
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Dammam, then road inland to Riyadh |
| Dispatch | 4 to 7 working days |
| Freight | Sea via Dammam, then road |
| 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 Dammam, then road inland to Riyadh. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
Questions from Riyadh projects
What makes auditorium acoustics and soundproofing different in Riyadh?
Mosques, conference halls and hotel ballrooms are tall hard volumes where intelligibility over a long reverberation tail is the whole brief. Dammam then several hundred kilometres by road. We quote the sea leg and the inland leg separately so the programme runs on real dates.
Where should the budget go first on a Riyadh 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 Riyadh?
No. We manufacture in India and supply into Riyadh. 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 Riyadh site?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Dammam, then road inland to Riyadh, 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
A plan and a section is enough. We will come back with a build-up, a BOQ and a delivered date, and we will say so if what you are asking for will not work.