Acoustic Art Panels in a Seminary

Kevin McIverKevin joined the team in 2006. His passion for sound began early, working with bands and venues. At 21, he bought his own PA and began renting it out and engineering sound. Kevin has worked on projects ranging from recording studios and broadcast facilities to worship facilities, schools, and noise control solutions for the U.S. Military. 1-800-782-5742 Ext. 0119

An Acousti-Art Cross Panel at the Princeton Theological Seminary.

The Issue

Acoustic Art Panels can be used in a variety of applications. They can be mounted on the walls and ceiling and are highly customizable. Read on to see just one successful use of Acoustic Art Panels and how great they can look! Introducing: The "Cocktail Effect." You've heard it before. You're out to dinner. The room fills up with people, all of which are talking. The room gets loud, really loud. You have to start talking louder and louder just to be heard. Now you're yelling, and so is everyone else. You leave with your ears ringing. You've lost your voice. You barely remember your dinner. You're not pleased.

From left to right: AlphaSorb® Studio 54 Panels and Acousti-Art Panels.

The Challenge

We've all been there before. For the President's House at the Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, NJ, the Cocktail Effect was a real problem. Dawne Barnes of db Design Studio recognized this problem right away during one of their seminary events. The room is used for entertaining guests and hosting events for the seminary and can fill up with people quickly. The Cocktail Effect was in full effect, and so were the complaints. Knowing this was a serious problem, she contacted Acoustical Solutions for help.

Art Acoustic Panels in a seminary.

The Solution

Looking around the space, there's a mixture of highly reflective building materials: brick, glass, and metal. These building materials are known for taking sound waves and vibrations and reflecting them back into the space without any loss of energy. This results in the following: a very loud environment, echoes, and the Cocktail Effect. To combat this problem, we recommended using Acoustical Panels. Acoustical Panels work by absorbing sound energy and not reflecting the sound back into the space. Dawne saw that the AlphaSorb® Art Acoustic Panels and AlphaSorb® Fabric Wrapped Acoustic Panels in Guilford of Maine Studio 54 Fabric worked best for her design, and she sent us images she wanted to be turned into Acoustical Panels. The pressure was on: we had to work quickly to meet a deadline so her team could get the Acoustical Panels up before their next seminary event.

Acoustical Wall Panels turn a hard, reflective surface into an absorptive one.

The Result

The Acoustical Panels arrived on time, and you can see the result below!

The Result

"Everything arrived on time, and everyone loved the panels! What we noticed right away was the diminished echo and normalcy of sound in the room! Bravo! Thank you so very much for all you did to make this happen. I am so appreciative of your hard work on this. I have a feeling others will be giving you a call because they were so impressed by the product! The panels are doing exactly what we'd hoped! They make the space seem much less cavernous and really do absorb the voices of the people using the space. Thanks again for all of your help in making this space really work for us and all the entertaining for the seminary that we do at our home." — Dawne Barnes, db Design Studio

To learn more about how Acoustical Solutions can solve your noise control problems, use our contact form, call one of our Acoustical Sales Consultants at (800) 782-5742, or visit us on the web at acousticalsolutions.com.

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