The importance of good acoustics in the restaurant environment has been recognised throughout the world. We have found the following interesting studies, links and information regarding restaurant acoustics: -

In New Zealand, the Acoustical Society of New Zealand has been actively promoting a ‘Cafe & Restaurant Acoustical Index Guide’ called CRAI. This has been promoted through the media and the National Foundation for the Deaf. See here for more information – http://www.acoustics.ac.nz/crai.php

New Zealand also has a Cafe & Restaurant Acoustical Index – see here – http://www.acoustics.ac.nz/crai.php

In the US, a local radio station in Toronto has started an initiative to bring together people who dislike loud, noisy restaurants and recommend quiet ones to each other. See here for more information – http://www.classical963fm.com/antinoisepollution/

Scientific American had an interesting pod cast out last year concerning the food quality and the notion that unwanted noise altered the participants perception of food taste. The results show that food was perceived to be more bland when the environment was too load. Check out the podcast at – http://bit.ly/b7XB3U

The Huffington Post produced an interesting test on some of the most noisy restaurants in the US. Some very intersting comments – http://www.zagat.com/buzz/just-how-loud-is-that-restaurant-testing-eateries-with-a-decibel-meter

Am I alone in disliking a noisy restaurant?. I think everyone must agree that an eating environment where you have to shout to be heard, when only sitting opposite somebody, is not the best experience.

Being disturbed by conversations or kitchen noise on the other side of the restaurant in a highly reverberant space is not ideal – whether you realise you are uncomfortable or not.

I believe that good room acoustics are key to a successful restaurant (quality of food is fairly important too – but you know what I mean). We have treated many restaurants with poor acoustics. And I can honestly say with 100% success on every occasion. How did we do this? What was our approach?…

I would suggest the following reasons for our success: -

1. INDIVIDUALITY – We look at every acoustic treatment project individually and treat them differently, particularly in restaurant environments. You can study as many studies and papers as you like… but every eatery is different, every surface is generally different and the clients acoustic goals are generally always different. It is just as important to understand your clients desires for their clienteles experience as is it the understanding of all the behavior of sound all of its nuances. Very exclusive, expensive, high end restaurants, generally but not exclusively prefer to have a very ‘dead’ sound. Supporting that feeling of exclusivity, speech privacy, relaxation. Some restaurants require a buzz and and a youthful excitement. Once we have collated this information we work towards a reverberation time that would best suit.

1. Design is KEY – We use highly effective, attractive acoustic products from discreet sound absorbing black ceilings to feature custom printed wall panels – or textured sound diffusing panels. Enhance the appearance of the space and create a feature from any acoustic treatment is our advice. Design is KEY.

There is plenty more – but with the right meeting with the right people, a good survey and a great design you can achieve fantastic listening environments in restaurants and bars. There is no ‘one size’ or ‘RT fits all’ and over analysis and over-complication in my personal opinion is unnecessary.

Ecophon Sombra - Acoustic Ceiling

When I eat in restaurants with poor acoustics – I ask the front of house, do you realise your restaurant could feel so much better?… often, interestingly, the answer is yes. If I wasn’t so busy eating I might just make some sales…

Matt Bullen
Restaurant Acoustics Critic / Salesman.

Kitchen Acoustic Ceiling - Ecophon Hygiene

Staff restaurants can be pretty uncomfortable places and can be experiences much like the old noisy school canteen. We believe that by making commercial staff restaurants acoustically comfortable, you can create an excellent environment to relax, de-stress and create another comfortable place to meet and do business.

Staff Restaurant Acoustics - Ecophon Solo in Slate Grey and Multi-Coloured wall Panel C

Often, commercial premises suffer from a shortage of meeting rooms. The main reason for not using staff restaurant and breakout spaces for informal meetings is that they can be uncomfortably noisy. We have been able to transform these noisy spaces into areas that are more inviting than the meeting rooms themselves. Simply be creating the perfect listening environment.

For this project we used products from Ecophon. The highly effective sound absorbing hanging rafts, Ecophon Solo in dark slate and the  high quality acoustic performance and finish of Ecophon’s Wall Panel C system with Texona fabric colour panels chosen by the client to brighten up the space.

Slate Grey Ecophon Solo Hanging Acoustic Panels

The Ecophon Solo slate grey hanging acoustic panels are unobtrusive, you can barely notice them in this instance, the client wanted to inject colour using the Wall Panel C system – both systems are performing as highly effective sound absorbers and have transformed this space.

There are undoubtedly a huge number of companies out there – not realising how much better their staff spaces could be.