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For projects in Switzerland
Auditorium acoustics and soundproofing in Switzerland
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. Concert halls, church buildings and civic rooms are long-decay volumes where interventions must be reversible.
- 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 / What it is
The product, described honestly, for a Switzerland brief
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.
Concert halls, church buildings and civic rooms are long-decay volumes where interventions must be reversible.
Work reaching us from Switzerland is mostly apartments, offices, alpine hotels, schools, clinics, studios, timber buildings.
- The tolerance is zero If the sheet does not perform, you will find out and so will we. That is why we quote what the material does rather than what would win the order.
- Floor area is extremely expensive Every centimetre a wall grows into the room is paid for. A dense membrane with a resilient break usually beats a thick framed build-up on both depth and cost.
- Timber construction at scale Switzerland builds a lot in timber, and timber is light. Low frequency passes easily, so mass and decoupling do the work, not more absorption.
- 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 Switzerland.
02 / The build-up
What goes where, from the structure in
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Layer 1
Wood wool acoustic panels
Wood fibre bound into a rigid board with an open texture. In Switzerland, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery is standard, so duct and terminal unit noise are the sources.
Direct fix. Mechanically fixed to the soffit or wall. Durable and simple.
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Layer 2
Ceiling baffles and clouds
PET felt suspended from the soffit, vertically as baffles or horizontally as clouds. In Switzerland, concert halls, church buildings and civic rooms are long-decay volumes where interventions must be reversible.
Mixed with services. Set out around ducts, trays and lighting rather than fighting them, coordinated from your reflected ceiling plan.
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Layer 3
Acoustic carpet and rugs
A tile carpet with a dense polyester face on a felt backing. In Switzerland, school buildings are built to a high standard with hard cleanable surfaces, so rooms stay live and intelligibility is the target.
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 / In this market
What decides the build-up in Switzerland
- The tolerance is zero
If the sheet does not perform, you will find out and so will we. That is why we quote what the material does rather than what would win the order.
- Floor area is extremely expensive
Every centimetre a wall grows into the room is paid for. A dense membrane with a resilient break usually beats a thick framed build-up on both depth and cost.
- Timber construction at scale
Switzerland builds a lot in timber, and timber is light. Low frequency passes easily, so mass and decoupling do the work, not more absorption.
- Landlocked, so plan the inland leg
Rotterdam or Antwerp, then rail. We quote the sea leg and the inland leg separately so the programme runs on real dates.
- Assembly and performance rooms
Concert halls, church buildings and civic rooms are long-decay volumes where interventions must be reversible.
- School and campus buildings
School buildings are built to a high standard with hard cleanable surfaces, so rooms stay live and intelligibility is the target.
04 / Room by room
Room by room, on a typical Switzerland job
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Reverberation time
Set against use. Speech and music want different numbers, and a dual use hall needs a decision. If the sheet does not perform, you will find out and so will we. That is why we quote what the material does rather than what would win the order.
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 1200 x 600 mm
- Wooden slat acoustic panels, 13-3, 14-2, 28-4 and 59-5
- 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. Every centimetre a wall grows into the room is paid for. A dense membrane with a resilient break usually beats a thick framed build-up on both depth and cost.
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 20 mm
- Wooden slat acoustic panels, 2440 x 192 mm and 2440 x 128 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. Switzerland builds a lot in timber, and timber is light. Low frequency passes easily, so mass and decoupling do the work, not more absorption.
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 400 kg per cubic metre
- Wooden slat acoustic panels, 14, 16 and 18 mm
- Acoustic carpet and rugs, 64 sq ft per pack
For a Switzerland interior where the finish leads, we will say plainly what each option costs you acoustically. See how we work with interior designers.
04 / Durability
The Switzerland climate decides the material list
Switzerland is cool and damp, with long heating seasons and cold external walls, and that narrows the material list before acoustics is discussed.
Cold wall build-ups and long heating seasons mean interstitial condensation is a real risk behind any lining. PET felt is unaffected by damp air and will not feed mould where a fabric-faced mineral product would.
The failure we design against here is condensation behind linings in older, poorly insulated 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 / Read this first
The six errors that cost the most
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Absorbing the whole room and losing the back rows
This is the one that comes back as a second fit-out rather than a snag.
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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 Switzerland job
If the sheet does not perform, you will find out and so will we. That is why we quote what the material does rather than what would win the order.
05 / Route to site
Getting it to Switzerland, with real dates
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Rotterdam or Antwerp, then rail and road inland |
| Dispatch | 4 to 7 working days |
| Freight | Sea via Rotterdam, then rail |
| 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 Rotterdam or Antwerp, then rail and road inland. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
Questions from Switzerland projects
What makes auditorium acoustics and soundproofing different in Switzerland?
Concert halls, church buildings and civic rooms are long-decay volumes where interventions must be reversible. If the sheet does not perform, you will find out and so will we. That is why we quote what the material does rather than what would win the order.
Where should the budget go first on a Switzerland 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 Switzerland?
No. We manufacture in India and supply into Switzerland. 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 Switzerland site?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Rotterdam or Antwerp, then rail and road inland, 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
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.