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When my previous university built a new eatery, the architects decided to put vertical acoustic "blade" tiles on the ceiling. Those actually fitted the architec

When my previous university built a new eatery, the architects decided to put vertical acoustic "blade" tiles on the ceiling. Those actually fitted the architecture of the entire building quite nicely (see [1, 2] for photos), and the effect on the acoustics compared to the previous building (with a similarly high concrete ceiling) was enormous. It was suddenly possible to have long conversations with a relatively large group of people over lunch without growing tired after a few minutes. I figure that you could use similar, aesthetically pleasing (e.g., coloured) elements in a restaurant setting. [1] https://www.uni-bielefeld.de/bau/images/gebaeude-x-6.jpg https://www.uni-bielefeld.de/bau/images/gebaeude-x-6.jpg [2] https://www.uni-bielefeld.de/bau/images/mensa_1_gross.jpg https://www.uni-bielefeld.de/bau/images/mensa_1_gross.jpg

lsc 8y ago
+1; the open plan office in which I work has something like that (only less... symmetrical?) hanging from the ceiling. it helps, compared to other open spaces I've been in, and you can still see the ductwork, power and ethernet. They also have those compressed cotton acoustical panels on the wall behind a lattice of 2x4s, and some kind of grey insulating spray that covers the actual ceiling and I beams. I mean, it's still worse than a cube farm under a conventional acoustical tiled ceiling, but it is a hell of a lot better than nothing, and conforms to the visual standards of the day, (or at least i think it does; It was built out very recently.)
Anechoic 8y ago
Those are blades, and they exist within the cloud family. I also think they look attractive, but we've gotten a lot of pushback from architects when we've tried to recommend them, excuses have included interference with lighting and sprinkler systems (I'm not an architect so I don't know how valid those concerns really are) and cost. As with most anything, it's probably easier to incorporate them into a new design from the start then to fit them into an existing space that wasn't designed to accommodate them.

lsc 8y ago

+1; the open plan office in which I work has something like that (only less... symmetrical?) hanging from the ceiling. it helps, compared to other open spaces I've been in, and you can still see the ductwork, power and ethernet. They also have those compressed cotton acoustical panels on the wall behind a lattice of 2x4s, and some kind of grey insulating spray that covers the actual ceiling and I beams. I mean, it's still worse than a cube farm under a conventional acoustical tiled ceiling, but it is a hell of a lot better than nothing, and conforms to the visual standards of the day, (or at least i think it does; It was built out very recently.)

Anechoic 8y ago

Those are blades, and they exist within the cloud family. I also think they look attractive, but we've gotten a lot of pushback from architects when we've tried to recommend them, excuses have included interference with lighting and sprinkler systems (I'm not an architect so I don't know how valid those concerns really are) and cost. As with most anything, it's probably easier to incorporate them into a new design from the start then to fit them into an existing space that wasn't designed to accommodate them.