Things You Should Know About Conference Room Acoustics

By Author: Henry Janice
Total Articles: 117
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Office conference rooms are invaluable communication forums in which enough audibility and confidentiality are of great essence. The nature of a conference room, being a single enclosed room where multiple parties gather to discuss business matters, can bring about various acoustical and sound reduction challenges in an office ambience.

Conference room acoustics generally imply first lessening the noise transmission into and out of the room, followed by applying treatments to enhance the quality of acoustics in the room for apprehensible dialogue, presentations and speeches. In some cases, bleeding of conference room noise is not a problem, and the project can emphasize only on eradicating extra noise echo within the room to enhance overall acoustical quality.

Sound bleeding into and out of a conference room is the basic concern that should be addressed in a conference room sound betterment project. External noise entering a conference room during a meeting is an annoyance and ...
... a distraction to the attendees of the assembly, while noise transmitted out of the room and into the general office environment is a distraction to other staffs whose ability to focus can be impacted. Moreover, the safety of confidential company information can be compromised when details discussed in a meeting are conveniently audible throughout the office.

HVAC noise control bleed into and out of a conference room involves isolating the room so that noise can’t conveniently travel through common surfaces like ceilings and walls. Isolating the room can be achieved in different ways, depending on the unique room features, extent of changes desired and also the project budget. Adding a layer of mass loaded vinyl sound barrier to each wall and constructing a secondary drywall layer is one efficient method of lessening sound transmission between rooms. Such changes add the vital soundproofing aspects of density and disconnection to the room, with the added density controlling the ability of the walls to vibrate and the disconnected surface causing sound waves to collapse in the structure.

Moreover, various types of floating ceilings are available to replace or supplement the current tiles in a typical grid ceiling. For bigger rooms, collapsible sound control curtains used along with the methods above can establish a smaller meeting area and help in the reduction of noise transmission beyond the desired area.

The second phase in enhancing conference room acoustics is applying absorption treatments to control the reflections of background noise in the room to improve the acoustical quality within. The ability of every attendee to clearly comprehend vital information delivered in videos, speeches, and other presentations is vital to a productive and worthy conference or meeting.

Though efficient sound reduction and acoustical development solutions can be conveniently self-installed, it is vital to consult a soundproofing professional after the commencement of any such project to make sure that all variables are considered and that an efficient solution is reached.