For projects in Zurich
Auditorium acoustics and soundproofing in Zurich
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 Zurich 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 Zurich is mostly banking and professional offices, industrial conversions, apartments, clinics, restaurants, studios.
- Confidentiality is the requirement On a banking or professional floor the question is not comfort, it is whether a conversation leaves the room. Absorption plus a proper partition and door detail is what delivers that.
- Industrial conversions in the west Old industrial buildings give superb volume and terrible acoustics. Hard shells, big cubic volume and nothing soft, so the ceiling plane has to carry the whole room.
- Depth costs real money here Zurich floor area is among the most expensive in Europe. A thinner build-up that performs is worth more than a thicker one that performs slightly better.
- 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 Zurich.
02 / The build-up
The build-up, layer by layer
-
Layer 1
Wood wool acoustic panels
Wood fibre bound into a rigid board with an open texture. In Zurich, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery is standard, so duct and terminal unit noise are the sources.
With a porous backing. Board over mineral backing where the room needs more than the board alone gives.
-
Layer 2
PET felt acoustic panels
A rigid non-woven panel pressed from 100% polyester fibre, a large part of it recycled. In Zurich, concert halls, church buildings and civic rooms are long-decay volumes where interventions must be reversible.
Over a porous backing. Panel over mineral or PET backing where the room needs genuine low mid control.
-
Layer 3
Acoustic carpet and rugs
A tile carpet with a dense polyester face on a felt backing. In Zurich, school buildings are built to a high standard with hard cleanable surfaces, so rooms stay live and intelligibility is the target.
Over a resilient underlay. Where impact noise to the floor below is the actual complaint, the underlay does that work, not the carpet.
If you are specifying for a Zurich project, we can give you a section, a BOQ and the honest limits of each layer. See how we support architects.
03 / In this market
What the buildings in Zurich do to the specification
- Confidentiality is the requirement
On a banking or professional floor the question is not comfort, it is whether a conversation leaves the room. Absorption plus a proper partition and door detail is what delivers that.
- Industrial conversions in the west
Old industrial buildings give superb volume and terrible acoustics. Hard shells, big cubic volume and nothing soft, so the ceiling plane has to carry the whole room.
- Depth costs real money here
Zurich floor area is among the most expensive in Europe. A thinner build-up that performs is worth more than a thicker one that performs slightly better.
- Trams and dense streets
Ground level trams put low frequency into the structure. That is a structural isolation question, and panels on a wall will not answer it.
- 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
Space by space, for Zurich briefs
-
Reverberation time
Set against use. Speech and music want different numbers, and a dual use hall needs a decision. On a banking or professional floor the question is not comfort, it is whether a conversation leaves the room. Absorption plus a proper partition and door detail is what delivers that.
- 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
- Acoustic carpet and rugs, High density polyester
-
Early reflections
Shaped surfaces that send energy to the rear seats rather than absorbing everything. Old industrial buildings give superb volume and terrible acoustics. Hard shells, big cubic volume and nothing soft, so the ceiling plane has to carry the whole room.
- Wooden slat acoustic panels, 13-3, 14-2, 28-4 and 59-5
- PET felt acoustic panels, 4 to 24 mm
- Acoustic carpet and rugs, Felt
-
Rear wall
The single worst surface in most halls, and the first one to treat. Zurich floor area is among the most expensive in Europe. A thinner build-up that performs is worth more than a thicker one that performs slightly better.
- 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
- 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 Zurich, before acoustics is discussed
Zurich 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
What we watch go wrong on jobs like this
-
Absorbing the whole room and losing the back rows
It sounds like a small detail until the room is finished and the complaint arrives.
-
Adding speakers to fix a reverberation problem
It sounds like a small detail until the room is finished and the complaint arrives.
-
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.
-
Treating it as a generic Zurich job
On a banking or professional floor the question is not comfort, it is whether a conversation leaves the room. Absorption plus a proper partition and door detail is what delivers that.
05 / Logistics
Supply into Zurich, start to site
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Rotterdam or Antwerp, then rail into Zurich |
| 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 into Zurich. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
Questions from Zurich projects
What makes auditorium acoustics and soundproofing different in Zurich?
Concert halls, church buildings and civic rooms are long-decay volumes where interventions must be reversible. On a banking or professional floor the question is not comfort, it is whether a conversation leaves the room. Absorption plus a proper partition and door detail is what delivers that.
Where should the budget go first on a Zurich 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 Zurich?
No. We manufacture in India and supply into Zurich. 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 Zurich site?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Rotterdam or Antwerp, then rail into Zurich, 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
Send the drawings, get a straight answer
One drawing gets you a proper answer. Build-up, quantities, a delivered date, and an honest note on anything we think is the wrong approach.