Acoustic conditioning of a workspace is always an interesting challenge. Most office environments are housed within leased or rented premises and with the view across the city from the 16th floor, you also get a fifty-page list of guidelines which indicate what you can and can’t do within the premises, mostly also including restrictions on changes to the ceiling, walls, and floor. The standard fit-out may offer conventional ceiling tiles, gypsum board ceilings, painted or plasterboard wall finishes, and wall-to-wall carpets, however, an acoustic nightmare of space can still be optimized using simple applications such as acoustic clouds which require minimal fixings and modifications to the existing ceiling.
As an alternative to physical partitioning, an eye-sore in open-plan design, clouds can be effectively used to acoustically define a specific area such as meeting areas and break-out areas within a large space. Suspended horizontally or vertically, usually by means of cable systems, acoustic clouds are a perfect solution to enhance sound absorption and speech legibility by reducing reflections, thus reverberation. Unlike with wall or floor fixings where only one side is acoustically exposed, all surfaces of acoustic clouds are exposed and effective in sound absorption significantly increasing the active incident surface area.
In addition to being a part of the sound environment, when configured well, acoustic clouds can also play a vital role in your design intent and aesthetics as they can be used in various different shapes and sizes, in vibrant colours and installed at different tiers.