Hush Acoustics

BackgroundThe owner and operator of a luxury retirement village in Warwickshire approached Hush Acoustics to improve the acoustic comfort in its main social area after feedback from residents raised concerns about excessive background noise.Lime Tree Village at Dunchurch features a superbly equipped bar and sun room as part of its extensive range of facilities, where residents can relax and socialise. Despite it being a relatively new development, the managers of the complex were receiving feedback from residents that the quality and useability of these rooms was being seriously affected by excessive background noise and sound echoing.Tackling the issue Keen to resolve the situation, the site’s managers approached Hush Acoustics for assistance. Step one was for Hush to visit the site and undertake an extensive survey of Lime Tree Village’s affected spaces – the sun room and the adjoining bar. The acoustic survey carried out by Hush at Lime Tree Village quickly revealed the cause of the background noise issue – common types of reflective, hard surfaces such as plastered walls and wooden furniture were indeed responsible for reverberating sound back into the room. And it was immediately evident that users of the spaces were having to do what most people do in rooms affected in this way – increase their level of speech to try and be heard, which means the issue spirals as everyone attempts to speak over the growing background noise.The solutionThe reverberation solution provided by Hush centres on its Hush Absorber 50 sound absorber panels, which are designed to be strategically mounted on walls or ceilings inside rooms affected by excess background noise. The absorber panels are Class A for the highest sound absorption performance, formed of a 50mm thick acoustic foam which is hand finished in a high quality fabric applied on the face, edges and back.After the site visit, the Hush team were able to calculate how many panels were needed to control the issue and where they would be mounted. A report was prepared for the retirement village managers with a quotation for the supply and installation of the panels recommended and Hush was commissioned to deliver the solution in November 2022. Installation of the Hush Absorber panels was completed in just one day which meant very minimal disruption to the facilities and the improvements were noticed immediately.Client feedbackA representative from Lime Tree Village said:“We always aim to create the best quality environment for our residents, so we are delighted that Hush Acoustics has been able to respond quickly to deliver an effective solution for our sun room and bar. From the initial enquiry to their recommendations and installation service, the process has been professionally managed throughout, and our staff and residents are delighted with the results.”