d*s reader recs [betsy needs our help!]
d*s reader betsy has a pilates problem, well, a pilates studio problem. here are the details, maybe you guys have some suggestions for her sound problem.
"Hi Designsponge, I love your blog. I have a 400 sq foot Pilates studio with ceilings that are 12 feet high. There is a huge echo in the place and I need something on the wall (fabric?) to deaden the sound problem without looking horribly dreary and heavy. The space is 16x25x12 and I need to cover two walls, 16x12. I also want a floor covering that is able to take a beating, put an exercise mat on and be cleanable, 16x12."so, does anyone have any soundproofing solutions for our pilates problem? thanks!
Labels: interior design
posted by design*sponge @ 30.3.06
15 Comments:
I'm not a soundproof guru but I think maybe light curtains on hospital style rigging may help to embrace the sound a bit. A friend of mine has a yoga and pilates studio and has used white and light colored wood to create a very relaxing yet energizing space. She has laminate flooring but cork is also a very friendly and durable material for floors that take a beating.
chilewich makes some woven vinyl floor covering that can be installed in squares or wall-to-wall. My friend saw it in a spa in Aspen and said it was incredible. I magine it's nice on the feet too.
Forbo makes a good product that is made from sustainable, natural materials. I think there corklinoleum product would be a good fit. Here is the link:
http://www.forbo-flooring.com/framework/DesktopDefault.aspx?menu_id=1879
I agree with the comment above re:curtains on a hospital track, that would be a good solution. My other thought is industrial felt.
-PJ
Don't forget the ceiling. Installing fabric and/or acoustic foam up there will also make a huge difference.
Any hard surface, except the cork will not absorb the sound. Cork is a softer product and it can compress under heavy machines and other objects that have a high psi(pounds per square inch). For example, a high heel has a higher psi than an elephant because the surface area on a heel is much, much smaller than a elephant's foot.
There is a product, Neofloor from Lees Carpets that has the same benefits as hard surface, but it has acoustical properties and it's surface has 70M fibers per square inch. It is a very dense face weight.
Any panels should be acoustical panels on the wall or ceiling. You can purchase panels that already have fabric(very neutral color palettes) or wrap your own.
Good luck!
I have a small office with 12' ceilings that had horrible acoustics. I changed it substantially by hanging nine globe shaped paper lanterns at varying heights. It was quite economical and killed the echo effect and people who come in are always pleasantly surprised by the visual effect. Perhaps hanging a couple dozen of them close to the ceiling or at varying heights around the perimeter would solve your problem and still allow the needed height for reformer work. Alternately, hanging strips of fabric horizontally from the ceiling like banners can give a similar effect. Anything that creates additional soft surfaces between the hard flat surfaces will help to soften the sound of the room. Good luck.
check out this company www.robin-reigi.com. they have acousticla tiles and soft resin florring, I think they are to-the-trade only, but they should be able to connect you with a distributor.
http://www.feltstudio.com/design.html
shows different ways of soundproofing with felt
you may need to install slab-to-slab walls or add insulation.....coming from an interior design standpoint, alot of times the addition of panels does not completely aleviate the problem.
call a designer?
me?
good luck!
I hate sounding like a broken record, since I've posted a comment about this before, but I've heard good things about homasote: http://www.homasote.com/
Supposedly quite affordable, you can use it as as a bulletin board since it heals, you can cover it to make it more attractive, and it's a "green" option since it's made from recycled materials.
I've also seen good things about Forbo, which somebody else mentioned. Here's something from Martha Stewart about it: http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=tvs2824b
try cork. You can buy it on a roll. It will soundproof, and you can paint it and/or use it as a peg board.
Well of course the room is going to echo - it's all solid surfaces. If your primary objective is to soundproof, you only need to introduce -ONE- sound-absorbing surface to solve the problem. Since I'm sure you need the center of the room as clear as possible, consider possibly Flor (www.interfaceflor.com ) brand carpet-tiles. They're relatively inexpensive, modular, and come in as many customizable variations as you can imagine. They're square pieces, so if you need the center clear, only carpet the perimeter of the room.
I've had some experience with homasote, and while it is nice and very useful, once it's painted it loses a lot of its sound-absorbtion qualities, and until it's painted, it looks like cardboard, because, well, that's almost what it is.
Felt is extremely sound absorbing, but not cheap. Any softer fabric would work however. Consider perhaps draping cheap cotton yardage across the ceiling (say tacked to the rafters if that's a possibility.) Your color options would be endless. Not designer enough for your space? Find a wall-hanging textile for the wall or ceiling.
Good luck. It won't be too hard to solve that problem.
I just want to mention that sound travel up. If you have some sort of 4' tall curtain strip (doesnt need to be black velour) on top of your mirror... it should help tremendously. you can find different colorful curtain strips at ikea which are about 40in wide. Maybe some very light material would do the trick and would be nice in terms of lighting. I would add some art in front of it. As someone else wrote, I would also add some paper lantern or something like this to absorb the sound. You could make a nice design out of it. I would put strips of fabric in a wavy pattern all over the place hanged by some small chain. Hope that helps.
what about a molo softwall?
www.molodesign.com
A white stretched fabric, running vertically on a wall or two or across the ceiling (depending on your HVAC/duct situation) would take care of the sound. See Barrisol.
http://www.barrisol.com/english/
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