Optimize room acoustics in schools

The vacations are over and schools are about to start again. Every day classes fill up with children who together can raise the noise level quite a bit. Especially in rooms where knowledge transfer takes place, optimal room acoustics are crucial. Unfortunately, room acoustics in schools often leave much to be desired. Poor sound attenuation affects speech intelligibility, whereby information is lost at the back of the classroom and knowledge transfer is hindered. It is therefore important to invest in a pleasant learning environment where children can get the best out of themselves. Especially now that many children suffer from depression and learning disabilities due to Corona.

Too much reverberation and loud noises eventually lead to health damage, hearing damage and voice problems in teachers, increasing absenteeism. However, the impact on things like fatigue, concentration problems, behavioral problems and even depression has been convincingly demonstrated in international research. It is therefore of fundamental importance that acoustic climate control in school buildings is in order.

In addition, the acoustics in gymnasiums present a special challenge due to the size of the room and the high ceiling, which also requires additional sound absorption in the wall. There, too, room acoustics are essential for sports instructors, teachers, students and athletes alike.

However, soundproofing materials are usually soft, fragile and pricey. Soundblox is a positive exception to this and, partly because of its absorption of low-frequency sounds (ball sounds), is an ideal and price-friendly, robust and impact-resistant  solution for optimizing room acoustics both gyms, classrooms and aual's.

Sound absorption, sound insulation and fire resistance in one partition

Soundblox are sound-absorbing acoustic concrete masonry blocks specially designed for acoustic climate control , both in indoor and outdoor applications. By using concrete, these blocks also enable good sound insulation and have excellent fire resistance.

Challenges in construction

Contractors are struggling with price increases and shortages in construction that threaten to make acoustics a closing item in school buildings. And then there is sustainability. Many materials come from faraway places, compromising delivery times and placing a huge burden on the environment.

This is because concrete, like the raw materials for it, is produced within driving distance, thus guaranteeing supply. So people are right to revert to more traditional, familiar building materials such as the always available concrete, which not only proves itself as a stable solution in uncertain times but also proves to be more versatile than is often thought.