Sotto 13

The Issue

Sotto 13 recently received help from Acoustical Solutions in designing the acoustical treatment for this Italian restaurant in New York City. It was completed just in time for Valentine’s Day and made the Leisure + Design’s list of “Most Romantic Restaurants in America.”

The Challenge

Back in fall of 2012, we worked with Maneli Wilson, a Designer from NYC, to help add important acoustical absorption to a brand new Italian restaurant (Sotto 13). She wanted to add panels to the back dining area that had a large family style table and several smaller tables surrounding it. The family table is positioned below a tray ceiling with a skylight. The skylight was directly above an area where large groups of people be laughing and talking to one another during dinner. Sound was bouncing around uncontrollably and focusing back down to over this area as well as spreading to other parts of the dining room. This was not beneficial for creating an intimate dining experience.

The Solution

We used one-inch thick AlphaSorb^® Fabric Wrapped Acoustic Panels in Guilford of Maine Anchorage Fabric in Birch against the sides of the tray to absorb the reflections that would be caused by the angled skylight (in this case, known as the parabolic effect). This blended in perfectly with the soft, natural tones and colors chosen by Maneli for the space.

We knew that this alone would not be enough to control the reverb within the space, so we turned to AlphaSorb^® Art Acoustic Panels to apply scanned artwork to imitate framed paintings that Maneli Wilson Interiors had already chosen to decorate. Instead of hanging a traditional painting, we utilized high-resolution printing to create that stretched canvas look and feel by placing that printed image on an acoustically transparent fabric, stretching in in a custom-sized frame and filling the frame behind the image, with an acoustical board that absorbs annoying reflections.

Art Panels were used to complement formal the formal dining areas at Sotto 13 restaurant.

The Result

There has been some recent press about Sotto 13 and they are quickly becoming recognized as a great new spot in NY. Travel + Leisure included it as one of “America’s Most Romantic Restaurants.

Here is what Leisure + Design said about the romance of Sotto 13’s design:

“If you’re always drawn to the next hot new thing, may we introduce this West Village number? Sotto 13 has the signs of a trendy Manhattan restaurant—inventive small plates meant for sharing, gourmet pizzas, mixologist-designed cocktails—in an alluring space. A roaring wood-fired pizza oven is the centerpiece of the rustic dining room, outfitted with bare wood beams, wrought-iron caging, and a skylight that reveals a weeping willow.“

And with all that beautiful and carefully designed acoustical treatment, you can bet that Sotto 13 sounds as sweet as it looks! Sound absorption provided by the Art Panels and Anchorage Panels will keep sound intensity down, while improving speech intelligibility for those close by one another—so you can whisper sweet nothings without being heard by everyone in the dining room or just eat your pizza in peace.

Happy Valentine’s Day from everyone at Acoustical Solutions!