Acoustic Solutions in Commercial Spaces

Interior design is all about understanding and planning how a space will be used and experienced. In this Issue, we will focus on acoustics and how it plays a part in the user's experience.

Experience and Impressions

User experience is the top priority when dining or lodging in any high-end venue.

Take, for instance, the initial impression upon entering a 5-star hotel: The reception and lobby areas are the first spaces for the clientele to experience. Besides good branding and signage for users to follow, the ambience also plays a massive role.

As designers, we want to make an impact and a lasting impression, fitting with the company's branding.

Exiting a busy road and coming into a space that is intentionally planned for luxury and relaxation, any guest or patron would expect to be greeted and met with ease. You wouldn’t want to walk into a lobby and be overwhelmed by loud music, overflow of background sounds or have to hear other guests chit-chat from the adjacent rooms.

The interior design aims for users to be transported into the hotel's brand experience. Besides double-glazing apertures and doors cutting off from the outside world, a proper strategic plan layout would accommodate so that the reception area is cut off from other communal areas.

This helps lead guests to the area only when necessary to speak to the receptionist, allowing for private conversations and details to be shared without other guests overhearing. Zoning off this area creates a division of space that will achieve this private experience.

Together with good spatial planning, the interior designer should introduce materials that elevate the experience whether these are visible or not. Fabric material absorbs sound and designers introduce fabric with the intention of minimising acoustics.


Ambience and Mood

The space needs to embody a calm and luxurious atmosphere that relaxes and allows you to fully enjoy the experience.

Think about your expectations in a fine dining restaurant: When you are in a space that has utilised acoustic methods you instinctively talk in a softer tone–reason being you don’t have to shout to talk over other guests within the space, the acoustic materials absorb sound, inhibiting it from travelling far in the area. This creates calm within the user of the space and the overall ambience.

If a space is bare, has limited soft furnishings, no partitions or use of acoustic techniques it’s a recipe for an overwhelming environment.

Small places will get loud very quickly, with people’s chatter there is no space to create an ambience, and larger bare spaces will echo sounds and create an uneasy environment.

Have you ever experienced an awkwardly quiet dinner? Uncomfortable to speak because you are very aware of your neighbouring table and the details of their conversation; where even the utensils moving can be annoyingly loud making any guest slightly uncomfortable?

This would be the balance you hope to achieve; and soft furnishings can help mute the extra sounds.


Buffers and Solutions

Through spatial planning, designers may use doors, partitions, and screens that act as buffers to the noise travelling within the space.

Acoustic solutions come in many forms, there are specifically designed acoustic panels that come in any shape and colour imaginable. They are pre-manufactured and custom-made, allowing designers to make use of them in decorative features, cohesively or discretely blending in with the design, and all the while providing the function of sound absorption.

Understanding that fabrics have a big role in the absorption of sound, the space can be dressed in fabrics like wallpaper, upholstery, cushions, carpets, plants, and suspended solutions as such.

Going back to our case study dining experience; a very simple trick would be dressing the table, with fabric tablecloth and napkins for the utensils, the chairs could be padded with fabric and the floor could be carpeted, these are all simple soft furnishings that would make all the difference in the overall user experience.

We feel at ease when we mute the outside world – luxurious venues embody this experience. It may seem hard to achieve; but with this feature, we now know that when you want a space to be less busy with sound distractions; acoustic techniques such as these will enhance the experience of your hotel, bar or restaurant.


Stay tuned for Part 2 where in Issue 16 Sara will discuss brand identity and how to translate this messaging into the language of interior design.