Archive for category School & Educational Facilities
Taming the Cube with Cloudscape®
Posted by Acoustics First in Absorption, Classrooms, Customer Feedback, Manufacturing, Media Room, Product Applications, School & Educational Facilities, Teaching Rooms, Universities on October 21, 2022
When the University of the Pacific reached out to help tame the acoustics of their makerspace called “The Cube”, many different concerns were underlined about the space, its uses, and the problems they faced.

These concerns covered more than just the room dimensions – size, height, HVAC, glass walls, etc…. there were functional requirements for collaboration, classes, and workshops. The overwhelming acoustic problems involved the near constant noises generated by the vast array of equipment in this space – sewing machines, large format printers, plotting cutters, 3D printers, scanners, and every other modern tool for allowing the creative minds at their school to create. It was a cacophony of stepper motors, fans, and moving parts – which made collaboration very difficult.

The other parameter that needed to be maintained was the ability to reconfigure the layout of the equipment without affecting the acoustic treatment in the space. This removed almost all of the walls in the space as possible locations for treatment. This left the ceiling as the only viable space left for treatment, but with an array of lights and exposed HVAC systems, there were few treatments that would be easy to implement and still be effective.

The decision was made to creatively weave Cloudscape® Baffles into all the spaces available in the ceiling. Dodging duct-work and suspended lighting rails was made possible with careful planning and execution – and the results were immediately notable. (Also noticeable was that the baffles had very little impact on the lighting which is vital in any makerspace.)

“…The sound baffles you recommended finally got installed in my makerspace about two weeks ago and I wanted to send a quick thank you since they’ve made a very noticeable acoustic difference to the room, and it’s a lot more pleasant in here now. “
Chris Crawford – Innovation Spaces Manager (University of the Pacific)
Sonora® Lite brightens a cafeteria with a splash of color.
Posted by Acoustics First in Absorption, Customer Feedback, Product Applications, School & Educational Facilities on September 16, 2022

Controlling sound in a cafeteria with a corrugated metal ceiling isn’t the easiest thing to do, but the Sonora® Lite panels can be direct mounted using clear mounting pucks. These clear pucks work like big transparent washers, allowing for a clean and easy install to any surface which you can screw in a fastener. Sonora® Lite panels are also an economical choice so you can get a lot of coverage for your budget.
This solution provided immediate improvement, and the students (and staff) were happy to have a better acoustic environment, along with adding some color to the stark white ceiling.

Silent Pictures® goes BIG for Ditch Witch®
Posted by Acoustics First in Absorption, Classrooms, Customer Feedback, Product Applications, School & Educational Facilities, Teaching Rooms, Uncategorized on September 16, 2021

When Ditch Witch® needed to acoustically treat their training room, they had a big and bold idea – take a cool promo photo and use that to make a Silent Pictures® mosaic! The required scale made it easier to break up the photo into a 3’x3′ matrix, which also eased the shipping and installation process! The final product (at over 9 feet tall and 15 feet wide) is imposing, and while it isn’t quite life-sized, the impact is indeed massive!
“Thank you so much for all the help you and your team did on this project. Our training room is complete now.
Ditch Witch Midwest
We are over the moon happy.”
Little Safari Day Care – creating peace (and quiet), one pyramid at a time.
Posted by Acoustics First in Absorption, Classrooms, Customer Feedback, Multipurpose Rooms, Product Applications, School & Educational Facilities, Teaching Rooms on August 11, 2021
With more parents returning to the office, we’ve recently received a handful of treatment requests from day-care facilities dealing with an influx of boisterous children.
Little Safari Day care reached out to us in July 2021 for help with their space. Little Safari’s multi-purpose room is used for play, music, reading, arts/crafts, meals, games etc….. lots of moving and laughing = lots of noise! According to the owner “The noise level is deafening at times to the point you can’t hear anything, just noise”

The fanciful mural on the playroom wall looks great, but when you look closer, that glossy painted surface reflects sound like glass! Luckily, Fireflex Pyramid foam can quiet that down!
Technical consultant Cameron Girard settled on a remediation package that included FireFlex Acoustic Pyramid Foam panels distributed throughout the ceiling of the multi-purpose room. Safe to say, they were very happy with the results!!

The checkerboard install of the foam helped to distribute the absorption over the loudest areas of the room.
From the owner…..“Cameron, Thank you for all of your help and expertise in sound suppression!!! I have had people tell me upon entering the front door “wow, it’s much quieter in here” Such a noticeable difference. You may have saved my hearing and sanity!!!”
WKNC 88.1 completes renovation with Sonora® – and then does another!
Posted by Acoustics First in Absorption, Broadcast Facilities, Customer Feedback, Product Applications, Products, School & Educational Facilities, Uncategorized, Universities on September 25, 2019

Sonora® Panels complete the HD-2 studio renovation. (Photo- J. Gilbert)
Renovating a broadcast studio is a daunting task – technically, financially, and logistically. Amidst the chaos, it is possible for certain things to fall through the cracks – even important things. As the student run station at NC State University began their renovation, they were focused on doing it right, and not letting important elements go unaddressed.
When Jamie Lynn Gilbert, the Associate Director of Student Media and Adviser to WKNC 88.1, contacted Acoustics First they were finishing up an extensive renovation of the HD-2 studio and were looking for some Sonora® Acoustic Panels as the “final touch.” The end result was the frosting on the cake of this renovation, and the impact, both acoustically and aesthetically, was quite evident – even to their consulting engineer on the project.

Sonora® panels in WKNC HD-2 studio – reverse angle (Photo – J. Gilbert)
So evident, in fact, that just a month later, Jamie was back in contact with Acoustics First® to get nearly identical treatment for their production studio as they completed its renovation as well…

Nearly identical Sonora® Panel treatment for the production studio. (Photo – J.Gilbert)
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