The Boathouse at Rocketts Landing

The Issue

Restaurants are often designed and built around the sole intention of serving food and beverages. The decor and furniture center around providing a clean and comfortable atmosphere in which patrons will enjoy their dining experience. Successful restaurateurs know that to be successful, filling the restaurant with customers is the primary goal. However, with lots of customers, comes lots of noise. Too much noise can be a potential deterrent for repeat visits.

The Challenge

Kevin Healy’s waterfront eatery, The Boathouse at Rocketts Landing, is a popular destination for events like wedding receptions and parties. With a luxurious windowed dining room overlooking the James River, The Boathouse has operated for years, with only one recurring complaint among its patrons – the noise level. After trying a few acoustical treatments from another company with less than desirable results, Healy worked with Acoustical Solutions and his designer Helen Reed to develop a treatment that would effectively reduce noise in his restaurant without adding distracting acoustical treatments.

The Solution

The Boathouse at Rocketts Landing already had metal waves with acoustical batting behind, “But the results were not what we hoped”, said Reed, and noise complaints continued. Acoustical Solutions developed a plan for an absorbent stretch wall system and installed the treatment above the bar and open kitchen. Since the surfaces of these walls were curved, the perfect solution was the AcoustiWall Fabric Stretch System. The versatility of the track system allows you to apply acoustical material to a curved surface. Once installed, we hide the fabric track and acoustical substrate by stretching SoundSuede™ panel fabric over the whole system for a seamless, attractive design.

The Boathouse at Rocketts Landing utilized a fabric stretch wall system in the restaurant to provide a seamless soundproofing solution.

The Result

Since the installations of acoustical treatment, noise complaints have ceased at The Boathouse. Subsequently, we also installed acoustical material at Casa Del Barco, a sister restaurant.

From The Client: “We haven’t had received any complaints about noise issues. It worked!” – Kevin Healy