Church Hall and Community Centre Acoustics
From bingo to Zumba and art classes to jumble sales, church hall and community centres’ multiple uses offer an interesting challenge in managing the acoustics properly to ensure maximum benefit and comfort to as many users as possible
Ideally, the reverberation time in such a space (where not being used for music) would be between 1 and 1.2 seconds. However, as many surfaces in these spaces are hard and polished, acoustic treatment will often be required to ensure a comfortable acoustic and there are different options available depending on the available space
Ensuring the acoustics of your space are suitable to its use is important for a variety of reasons:
- Ensuring good speech intelligibility – teachers, group leaders etc need to be heard. Having good acoustics ensures this
- Improved concentration for listeners
- Reduce stress compared to a an echoey or loud environment
- It can reduce the amount of noise and disruptions for nearby and adjacent areas/rooms
Fabric Wrapped Acoustic Panels
Fabric wrapped acoustic panels are one of the easiest and most cost effective methods of treating a space such as this. These panels offer high levels of absorption, add to the aesthetics of the room, can be printed or personalised with any image or design of your choice, and come in a wide range of colours, fabrics and sizes. Following our free survey and acoustic calculation, as the most economic and quickest method, should there be enough room on the walls for the required number of panels, we would usually advise that this course of action is taken
The standard range of panels we install are all Class A rated (this is the best rating available for acoustic products) which means you would need fewer panels than you would with lower rated ones
Many fabric wrapped acoustic panels can also double-up as pinboards, without compromising the acoustic performance
Affixed directly onto, or suspended from the ceiling, acoustic rafts offer excellent absorption. Coming in a wide range of shapes, colours, sizes and materials, there will be a design to suit all aesthetics and tastes
Acoustic rafts absorb sound directly from the source, and also capture sounds which have reflected from the ceiling, ensuring that many rafts are rated as Class A
Acoustic Fabric/Wallpaper
Acoustic wallpaper is a full-coverage solution which works best in combination with other products solutions such as rafts and panels. Approximately 12mm thick, the covering is applied directly to the wall usually either from skirting to ceiling or in a 1.22m band along the centre of the wall. As well as being acoustically absorbent, it is also pinnable. Multi-use products such as this and the fabric wrapped acoustic panels ensure their popularity. The fabrics are available in a large variety of colours, offering something for all colour schemes
Example:
A Scout Hut, North Yorkshire
We were approached to solve the acoustic issues in this scout hut
We carried out a free survey and presented our results and a range of possible solutions to the group, along with our quote
The installation of a number of fabric wrapped acoustic panels, some of which replaced existing pin boards thereby ‘killing two birds with one stone’, reduced the reverberation time significantly, meaning that which means that during pack meetings the leaders no longer have to talk loudly or shout to be heard by the cubs or scouts
The calmer atmosphere has improved the overall acoustic within the hall and the pack are very happy with their installation, finding the space much more comfortable to use
