We have all been in restaurants or pizzerias where the background noise was so overbearing that it made the experience less enjoyable and, in some cases, prevented us from coming back. Restaurant acoustics is an ever-present issue that needs to be tackled with proper acoustic planning and design in order to pinpoint existing problems and come up with effective solutions.
What are the main audible disturbances in restaurants?
Restaurants are, by their nature, crowded places where people eat and chat while sat at tables that are often very close together. Overlapping conversations make people raise their voices so that those they are talking to can hear and understand them. This causes an increase in general background noise. With proper acoustic design, sound reverberation times decrease and speech becomes clearer and more intelligible, enabling people to communicate effectively without raising their voice.
Acoustic solutions for restaurants, bars and clubs
For restaurants, the most effective acoustic solutions are wall- and ceiling-mounted products. Silente, Dot and Sail sound-absorbing panels, for example, can be fixed to walls or suspended from the ceiling, and can be installed near tables and bar counters. Also, in terms of aesthetics, the panels can be customised in many different ways, with a range of upholstery fabric colours and personalised prints available, meaning the acoustic solutions can be adapted to the setting in which they are installed.