Village Hall Acoustics - Why is it important?

Village halls play an important role in small local communities, providing a place for people to come together and socialise in a safe environment. Modern village halls are multi-use spaces, meaning their design will never be acoustically perfect for all activities. These halls are often used for local sports, school dances, functions, games nights and more.

As the years have gone by, soft and absorbing surfaces such as curtains and carpet have been replaced by hard wooden floors, concrete walls and high open plasterboard ceilings. This results in an environment which is very loud with lots of echo and high reverberation times.

Reverberation time in village halls is often around 4 seconds or more, meaning that it takes at least 4 seconds for sound pressure to drop by 60dB after the sound is generated. With a 4 second reverberation time, speech will be basically incomprehensible to listeners, leading to misunderstanding, frustration and general discomfort and stress. Ideally, reverberation times should be between 1 and 1.5 seconds.

Many village halls need refurbishing acoustically to solve these high reverberation issues. We understand that village halls are often community run and owned with limited funds available for improvement works, but a few small additions can make an immediate and drastic improvement.

What acoustic products should I install, and where?

1. Ceiling Panels, Acoustic Rafts
2. Acoustic Wall Panels

A combination of products can be used, but generally when we complete a village hall project ceiling panels or ceiling rafts are the best performer. Ecophon's Solo range of suspended acoustic panels are a Class A absorbing panel available in circles, squares or rectangles. These panels hang horizontally from wire hangers, and are great for integrating into existing angular ceilings that exist in village hall spaces. Solo's perform the grunt of the work when absorbing reverberation within these spaces.

Wall Panels can also be added when more absorption is desired or required. In halls that are particularly large, or have very high ceilings, the addition of wall panels can help ensure the treatment is most effective. The range of wall panels is almost endless, but our Silent Space wall panels are a cost effective and simple solution that's also impact resistance.

What preparation or equipment will I need?

Depending on your particular project, a variety of tools and equipment will be required to complete your installation.

1. Consider where you will install your panels, and how many.. as a general rule, we recommend covering approx 80% of the exposed ceiling areas.
2. A ladder or scaffold tower; halls often feature high ceilings, so a safe way to reach the working area is crucial.
3. Fixings for panels; some of our products will include the required fixings, but make sure at time of ordering.
4. If you don't feel confident doing it yourself, we can also offer complete survey, design and installation services to solve the acoustic issues within your village hall.

Want our help?

Our team have completed over 50 village hall installations and can ensure a holistic solution is correctly specified and expertly fitted for you space. Contact us now!