How to understand the baffling world of acoustic baffles
Our cacophonous public spaces are teeming with harsh noises. By exchanging flat ceilings for acoustic hung or panelled baffles, we can soften sounds to stop them from coming back again, and again.
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By durlum, Texaa®, SPÄH designed acoustic and
June 6, 2023 | 10:00 pm CUT
durlum’s Character Design Ceilings range includes suspended acoustic baffles in a range of colours and with integrated lighting solutions
The purpose of baffles is to confuse matter
Wooden baffles create a softened soundscape in the Kids Science Labs (top) and an undulating wheat field in the Yanjiyou Bookstore (middle, bottom). Photos: Mike Schwartz (top), Dick.L (middle bottom)
What do acoustic baffles do?
In large, open-plan public environments like school buildings, hospitality spaces and pools, the massing sound from many competing voices and sounds ping off surrounding surfaces, enveloping individuals in claustrophobic enclosures of noise. By applying acoustic baffles, sound waves are instead absorbed by the panelling. The baffles’ core is vibrated by sound waves on impact, converting the energy into heat before it’s given a chance to return.The baffles’ core is vibrated by sound waves on impact, converting sound energy into heat before it returns
Baffles resonate sound in the Evelyn and Mo Ostin Music Center (top) and Texaa®’s Stereo acoustic panels on the wall (middle) or suspended to make partitions (bottom). Photo: Iwan Baan (top)
Where do you find acoustic baffles?
As well as removing the sound altogether, acoustic baffles can also be used in music and performance venues to selectively filter sound waves, allowing them to resonate without returning as disordered echoes. The interior surfaces of The Evelyn and Mo Ostin Music Center in LA, California, USA, for example, are ‘specifically designed to create the sensation of being within a musical instrument,’ explains Kevin Daly Architects. ‘The interior surfaces incorporate a custom-designed wooden baffle of Douglas fir and spruce that acts as a resonator and allows varying amounts of sound to be absorbed or reflected into the space.’
SPÄH designed acoustic’s straight-edged recycled greenPET baffles (top) and curve-edged Basotect baffles (middle), and Impact Acoustic’s customised Wave Ripple baffles become part of the furniture
What do acoustic baffles look like?
While the shape of acoustic baffles generally stays flat across two dimensions, the third is allowed to express itself without dropping in performance. So while some feature straight, clean lines like this iteration of the recycled greenPET baffles from SPÄH designed acoustic, suitable for improving the acoustics of otherwise echo-susceptive minimalist spaces without altering the aesthetic theme, others like the Basotect baffles also from SPÄH designed acoustic are cut with curved edges, meaning they’re able to generate wave-like formations and bring natural life to otherwise dull ceiling surfaces.Even when sound is muted baffles can ensure the ceiling doesn’t go unnoticed
Rockfon's large (top) and extra long (middle) Universal Baffles suit high-ceilinged spaces and durlum's integrated Character Design Ceiling baffles (bottom) fit snugly into lower ceilings
Are baffles all the same?
If there’s one thing all interior rooms have it’s a ceiling. And where there’s a ceiling, there’s a way (to fit an acoustic baffle). The thick bulk of Rockfon’s Universal Baffle is the perfect size for the depth of high ceilings or cavernous atriums, for example, while shorter projection baffles, like those making up the Character Design Ceilings range from durlum, are more suited to lower ceilings, with the slim form fitting neatly into ceiling cavities – leaving plenty of space for maintenance in commercial buildings. Available in a wide variety of colours, prints, materials and finishes, sometimes with integrated lighting solutions, even when sound is muted, baffles can ensure the ceiling doesn’t go unnoticed.Project Gallery
