Restaurant Acoustic Treatment & Echo Reduction
Modern restaurants are typically designed with shiny, hard surfaces on the walls, floors and ceilings, which creates the prefect storm for excess echo and reverb in a space. In most cases, this issue isn’t caught until post-occupancy, when guests start to complain about not being able to hear anything. Fortunately, at Union Grille, the architect designed the restaurant with full coverage, fabric-wrapped acoustic panels on the ceilings of both the first and second floors. Even with expansive marble floors and floor-to-ceiling windows, the acoustic paneled ceilings help to control echo and reverb throughout the restaurant.
Related: Target Reverb Times
Commercial Acoustics was contracted to install the acoustic ceiling panels at the new Union Grille restaurant. Design intent originally specified a stretched fabric wall application. However, the open deck behind the panels didn’t offer a substrate to attach fabric wall too since the track needs to be stapled in. The resolution was to get exact measurements of the width of the space between each beam, match each panel to this width, and slip-fit each panel into place. Although there was nothing to fasten the panels to, there was a wood lip along the length of each beam for the panels to rest on, holding them permanently in place.
Benefits of Ceiling Acoustic Treatment in Restaurants
Unfortunately, not all restaurants are designed with acoustics in mind, and even if it is determined that it’s needed down the line, there might not be any wall or ceiling space available for acoustic panels. Thankfully, acoustic treatment was designed into the space to cover the entire ceiling, otherwise there was not any wall space available for acoustic panels. Acoustic treatment in restaurants without wall or ceiling space isn’t impossible though, it’s just a bigger challenger. For example, acoustical baffles hang down from the ceiling by 2 small attachment points.
