Acoustic Design 101: Best Practices for Designing Healthier Sounding Spaces
By Anne Kulinski


Imagine walking into a space where every sound is perfectly balanced, where conversation flows effortlessly, and where noise never becomes a distraction. This isn't just a dream—it's the result of thoughtful acoustic design. In a world filled with constant noise, the importance of designing spaces with acoustics in mind is becoming increasingly clear. Whether in offices, restaurants, hospitals, classrooms, or other public spaces, acoustic design plays a crucial role in enhancing comfort, productivity, and overall well-being.
If you’re not sure where to start when designing for acoustically healthy spaces, we’ve got you covered. Keep reading to gain a better understanding of how sound works, how to measure it, and how to improve the acoustics within a space for happier, healthier occupants. We’ve outlined a few key concepts and provided our go-to recommendations to help you create the right sound environment to transform any space from merely functional to truly exceptional.


EchoStar+ Acoustic Clouds. © Jeffrey Totaro, 2020.
Why Acoustics Are Important
Acoustics play a vital role in the health and success of a space. Think of a restaurant you visited where you couldn’t hear across the table, or of a conference call with muffled voices that were hard to understand. Think of all of the noise that people actively try their best to ignore in the workplace every day: From neighborly conversations to humming printers and the ringing phones in between, poor acoustics can lose business and cause good employees to leave. There’s even a myriad of health implications that come with poor acoustics, including headaches, increased stress and anxiety, decreased sleep quality, and even hearing loss. The great news is that bad acoustics are a very solvable problem.


Xorel Artform Waveline tiles © Jeffrey Totaro, 2020.
Getting to Know Sound
Understanding how to design the sound of a room starts with understanding sound waves. Sound waves are the movement of audio energy through the air. When a room isn’t acoustically balanced, there are too many rogue sound waves bouncing around - this creates acoustic distraction. To improve the sound of a space, the first step is to understand how sound waves are measured, then we can learn how to capture and control these waves to improve sound.


Sound Measurements
There are two ways to measure the acoustics of a space:
Room-to-Room: Sound transmission between spaces - through walls ceilings or floors - is measured by Sound Transmission Class (STC).
Sound Within a Space: The quality of sound within a space is measured using Reverberation Time, or RT (think how long it takes to hear an echo back in a cave). Great sounding spaces have "just right" reverberation time based on their individual needs.
How do you control RT? By adding absorptive surfaces to catch sound waves before they reflect. Sound absorption is measured in Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC) with a rating which indicates how well a material reflects or absorbs sound. NRC ranges from 0.0 (fully reflective) to 1.0 (fully absorptive), but don’t be fooled: A product or material with an NRC of 1.0 doesn’t guarantee the room will have perfect acoustics. You’ll need to consider a multitude of variables including the size of the space, its intended use, and how much product you’ll need to achieve the desired acoustics.
Best Practices for Healthy Sounding Spaces
Here are 5 simple considerations to help absorb unwanted sound and reduce your Reverberation Time to create an acoustic oasis:


Sound Treatment Recommendations
- Start with the 3-7” band on the wall. This is where most speech sound waves will bounce.
- Treat adjacent walls. Treating adjacent walls will have a huge effect on sound waves bouncing back and forth.
- Don’t forget the ceiling. The fifth wall is an excellent opportunity to add much-needed acoustic absorption. Acoustic clouds and baffles are an ideal solution that works around lighting, sprinklers, HVAC, and other ceiling challenges.
- Consider geometry. Absorption is good, but added diffusion is better. Walls and tables are huge flat planes ready to reflect sound waves, but uneven-surface absorptive products (like Xorel Artform Drape 3D panels or Kirei Barcode Tiles) will help capture sound from all angles.
- Have the right amount. Large open spaces and high ceilings create high reverberation times and bigger echoes. The larger the space, the more acoustic dampening you’ll need.
Still need a little more guidance? Our Acoustic Design Services team is here to help. With Carnegie Design Services, you’ll save billable hours and find the right solution for your project needs. Start by sharing your inspiration, elevations, dimensions, budget, and color palette through a quick online form, and we’ll provide customized layouts including budget projections. Our 360º support team will even be there for any revisions until your vision is realized.
About the Author
Anne Kulinski is the Director of Marketing for Carnegie Acoustic Solutions, working to develop and manage strong processes and teams to help drive our brands' growth. Anne is a versatile, creative leader with a passion for sustainable design, business development, inspiring storytelling, and happy, thriving teams.