Improving acoustics and aesthetics within Glasgow offices

When Galaxy Insulation – Hush Acoustics’ parent company – moved into its new regional offices near Glasgow, the team wanted to ensure the spaces were pleasant to work in and acoustically comfortable.

The offices at Blantyre to the south of the city are contained within a modern building in a business park. This is typically designed and optimised for versatility, energy efficiency and low maintenance with large windows to allow for plenty of natural light transmission.

As is common with office buildings of this type, given the relatively low levels of soft materials and furnishings used in the fit-out and décor, once the team moved into their offices it quickly became apparent that the environment was echoey and acoustically uncomfortable as a result of reverberation.

RESOLVING ACOUSTIC ISSUES

Being familiar with this issue, the team at Galaxy Insulation were keen to ensure that everyone in the new office could work without being disrupted by excessive background noise, which is often caused by soundwaves reflecting off hard surfaces like glass and wood.

Galaxy Insulation turned to the team at Hush Acoustics for assistance with this issue, having seen how it had worked with clients across the UK to address similar reverberation problems. Hush started the process by conducting an acoustic survey to determine the extent of the problem and identify where sound absorber panels could be fitted to resolve the issue.

Hush proposed fitting six Hush Absorber 50 panels in varying sizes, including 1800x1200mm, 1200×1200 and 1000x1000mm, which would be strategically mounted on the walls of the offices.

This is a Class A absorber that comprises a specially formulated 50mm thick acoustic foam, hand-finished with an interior fabric, which is applied to the face, edges and back return.

ADDING A CREATIVE DIMENSION

As Hush Absorber panels are always manufactured to order in a fabric cover coloured to the requirements of the client, this presented an opportunity for Galaxy to use the new panels for decorative purposes too.

Rather than apply a single colour or generic pattern, the local team leading the project wanted to celebrate their great city by printing large photographs of famous Glasgow landmarks onto the panels. A number of high-resolution photographs were sourced and supplied to Hush to arrange the fabric printing as part of the manufacturing process.

Hush manufactured and supplied the absorber panels within three weeks from the date of order, and installed them all in a matter of hours to minimise disruption at the Galaxy Insulation offices.

Feedback from the team gave the panels an immediate thumbs up, with the difference in acoustic comfort noticed instantly and the images giving the office a distinctive new look.

CLIENT FEEDBACK

Jim Downie, Scotland’s Managing Director of Galaxy Insulation said: “What a transformation the absorber panels have made! Firstly, they look amazing with the vibrant colours of the photographs reproducing extremely well, reflecting our intention to celebrate Glasgow’s iconic buildings and skyline.

“Acoustically, the offices are far more comfortable for everyone. We’re an extremely busy office here as we work with customers across Scotland, so we’re always speaking on the phone or talking to each other to deliver for clients. We wanted to ensure high levels of background noise did not result in reverberation and make the working environment potentially unbearable.

“The team at Hush Acoustics were quick to understand our requirements which gave us complete confidence that their proposed solution would meet our needs. Now the panels are installed, it is clear that the Hush Absorber 50 panels have worked exactly as planned, working in the background to minimise the risk of nuisance reverberation.”