For projects in Spain
Recording studio acoustics and soundproofing in Spain
Two jobs that must not be confused: keeping the building out, and making the room honest inside. The first is mass and decoupling and has to be built first. The second is absorption and diffusion and can be tuned later. Studios sit inside residential blocks, so the neighbour above matters more than the room treatment.
- Isolation
- A measured background level, agreed before anything is bought.
- Low frequency
- Corner and boundary absorption with real depth, not surface foam.
- Early reflections
- Controlled at the mix position, and only there.
- Quote
- From a plan and a section, within 48 hours
01 / What it is
The product, described honestly, for a Spain brief
Two jobs that must not be confused: keeping the building out, and making the room honest inside. The first is mass and decoupling and has to be built first. The second is absorption and diffusion and can be tuned later.
Studios sit inside residential blocks, so the neighbour above matters more than the room treatment.
Work reaching us from Spain is mostly hotels and resorts, restaurants, apartments, offices, schools, clinics, studios.
- Tile and terrazzo everywhere Hard floors and rendered walls are the standard build. They reflect almost everything, so absorption on the ceiling usually does more than anything you add at eye level.
- Season deadlines are real deadlines Coastal and resort work has to be finished before the season opens. We give honest dispatch and transit windows rather than optimistic ones, so the fit-out is not waiting on a container.
- Late hours, homes above Bars and restaurants run late underneath apartments. The complaint is almost always low frequency and footfall, which means mass and isolation, not foam.
- Isolation A measured background level, agreed before anything is bought.
Full specification
Thickness, density, NRC by frequency, fire class, standard sizes and build-up detail for studio soundproofing are on the main product page. This page covers what that means for a project in Spain.
02 / The build-up
What goes where, from the structure in
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Layer 1
Acoustic foam and BassBloc
Open cell foam shapes for high frequency control, and BassBloc, a high density absorber built for the low mid range where ordinary foam does nothing. In Spain, split and multi-split systems dominate, with condensers in patios and light wells that act as reverberant shafts.
Behind a fabric frame. Where the room has to look finished, absorber inside a frame rather than foam on show.
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Layer 2
SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl
A limp, high density sheet that adds mass to a partition, floor or duct without adding depth. In Spain, churches, civic auditoriums and hotel function rooms are stone and plaster volumes with very long decay times.
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 3
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 Spain, school buildings are concrete and tile with high ceilings and hard floors, and dining halls are the loudest rooms in the building.
Wall array. Panels placed at first reflection points rather than spread evenly. Fewer panels, better result.
For a Spain practice, the useful thing is a detail you can put in a drawing set, not a brochure. See how we support architects.
03 / Local conditions
What the buildings in Spain do to the specification
- Tile and terrazzo everywhere
Hard floors and rendered walls are the standard build. They reflect almost everything, so absorption on the ceiling usually does more than anything you add at eye level.
- Season deadlines are real deadlines
Coastal and resort work has to be finished before the season opens. We give honest dispatch and transit windows rather than optimistic ones, so the fit-out is not waiting on a container.
- Late hours, homes above
Bars and restaurants run late underneath apartments. The complaint is almost always low frequency and footfall, which means mass and isolation, not foam.
- Sealed, air-conditioned rooms
Once a room is closed up against the heat it stops leaking sound outward and starts building it up inside. Absorption has to be balanced, not maximised.
- The housing stock
The Ensanche and equivalent city blocks stack flats around a patio with shared walls and slabs. Footfall and speech move between homes, which is a mass and isolation problem.
- The studio and content scene
Studios sit inside residential blocks, so the neighbour above matters more than the room treatment.
04 / Room by room
Room by room, on a typical Spain job
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Isolation
A measured background level, agreed before anything is bought. Hard floors and rendered walls are the standard build. They reflect almost everything, so absorption on the ceiling usually does more than anything you add at eye level.
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, 2100 kg per cubic metre
- 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
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Low frequency
Corner and boundary absorption with real depth, not surface foam. Coastal and resort work has to be finished before the season opens. We give honest dispatch and transit windows rather than optimistic ones, so the fit-out is not waiting on a container.
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, STC 30, 5.25 kg per sq m
- Soundproofing materials, Mass, then decoupling, then cavity absorption, then sealing
- Acoustic panels, ASTM C423
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Early reflections
Controlled at the mix position, and only there. Bars and restaurants run late underneath apartments. The complaint is almost always low frequency and footfall, which means mass and isolation, not foam.
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, STC 34, 8.4 kg per sq m
- Soundproofing materials, ASTM E90 for the barrier, ASTM C423 for the absorber
- Acoustic panels, 9 to 24 mm, 1220 x 2440 mm standard, up to 2440 x 4270 mm, 1200 to 3600 GSM
Designers get colour, pattern and CNC options with the absorption figure attached to each. See how we work with interior designers.
04 / Climate
Why the climate in Spain changes the material, not the target
Spain 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.
On a Spain job with a consultant involved, our part is material that matches the submitted data. See working with acoustic consultants.
06 / Worth knowing
Where this kind of project usually fails
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Buying foam to solve an isolation problem
This is the one that comes back as a second fit-out rather than a snag.
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Treating the room before the shell is isolated
Small on the drawing, expensive on site, and almost always found after handover.
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Killing the room completely and calling it controlled
We would rather calculate the area and sell you less of it than line every surface and call it thorough.
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Treating it as a generic Spain job
Hard floors and rendered walls are the standard build. They reflect almost everything, so absorption on the ceiling usually does more than anything you add at eye level.
05 / Supply
How material reaches a Spain site
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Valencia, Barcelona or Algeciras, then road to site |
| Dispatch | 4 to 7 working days |
| Freight | Sea via Valencia |
| 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.
Sea freight into Valencia, Barcelona or Algeciras, then road to site. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
Questions from Spain projects
What makes recording studio acoustics and soundproofing different in Spain?
Studios sit inside residential blocks, so the neighbour above matters more than the room treatment. Hard floors and rendered walls are the standard build. They reflect almost everything, so absorption on the ceiling usually does more than anything you add at eye level.
Where should the budget go first on a Spain project?
Isolation. A measured background level, agreed before anything is bought. Low frequency. Corner and boundary absorption with real depth, not surface foam.
Do you have an office or installation team in Spain?
No. We manufacture in India and supply into Spain. 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 Spain site?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Valencia, Barcelona or Algeciras, 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.
What goes wrong most often on this kind of project?
Buying foam to solve an isolation problem. Treating the room before the shell is isolated.
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
We quote from drawings, not from a square foot rate. Send a plan and the section through the critical wall or ceiling and you will get something you can actually build from.