Casa Del Barco

The Issue

Due to the design preferences of the current generation, eateries are sleeker, and louder, than ever before. Acoustical Solutions had recently helped restaurant owner Kevin Healy with reducing noise in one of his other restaurants, without compromising the stunning, modern design. Before fully renovating the lower level of an 1890s brick building for the opening of his second eatery, Casa Del Barco, Healy wanted to avoid the heartache of the customer noise complaints by addressing the acoustics prior to opening.

The Challenge

Kevin Healy’s first restaurant, The Boathouse at Rocketts Landing, operated for over five years, with only one recurring complaint among new patrons – the noise level. This issue was addressed by installing an acoustical fabric track system on some large curved surfaces in the dining space.

“There are no soft surfaces in this entire restaurant,” said Reed, “we knew from the beginning, based on what happened at the Boathouse, that Casa Del Barco would need acoustical treatment.” Healy and his designer, Helen Reed, wanted to take a slightly different approach to the acoustical material for the second restaurant.

The Solution

As for Casa Del Barco, the design team had more options for acoustical treatment, since they could be conceived at the beginning of the process. They could spend more time to incorporating the material into the design of the room instead retrofitting the existing space.

Working closely with the designer, Acoustical Solutions created large AlphaSorb^® Art Acoustic Panels printed with a mix of the restaurant’s color scheme and logo, for a branded acoustical ceiling treatment. Image panels are especially well suited for reducing noise in restaurants because they serve dual purposes as artwork and may be installed as wall or ceiling treatments.

“I didn’t even know we could print on acoustical panels until I spoke with Acoustical Solutions,” said Reed, “I think the panels in Casa Del Barco look great.”

Casa Del Barco worked closely with Acoustical Solutions to design and install custom manufactured art panels in their restaurant.

The Result

Since the installations of acoustical treatment, the noise issues were completely avoided by addressing the acoustic of the room during the construction phase of the project. “We haven’t had received ANY complaints about noise issues at Casa Del Barco!” said Healy.