St Gemma’s Hospice – Acoustic Panel Installation

St Gemma’s Hospice regularly host seated exercise classes, lunches and other activities in their main hall. They noticed there was a lot of echo and sound reflection within the room, this was leading to verbal communication breaking down and leaving residents feeling isolated.

Hearing loss is a common issue among elderly citizens, combined with a room with poor acoustics, this issue can be amplified significantly and have a detrimental effect on their mental & physical wellbeing.

It takes our brains 35% more effort to interpret information through poor audio, this can lead to a slower response to stimuli over time.

Reflection is where soundwaves emitted from a source hit a solid object such as hard wood flooring or a brick wall & bounce back into the room in several directions. Large rooms with a lack of soft surfaces such as soft furnishings or carpet are especially susceptible to this phenomenon which is what St Gemma’s Hospice were experiencing.

Absorptive Acoustic Panels

By installing absorptive Still Note acoustic panels on the walls & hanging them from the roof we were able to reduce the reflection of soundwaves, completely transforming the soundscape & the room aesthetics.

So what did St. Gemma’s have to say about the results?

Just wanted to say a big thanks for getting this work over the line – the difference it has made is incredible!

We had Community MDT yesterday with a full room and everyone commented on the significant improvement to the sound – people could clearly hear what was being said and the sound no longer bounces around or drifts away. The positive difference is also very noticeable when there are only a few people in the room.

We have also had some super patient feedback from the Thai Chi group yesterday – “Normally I struggle and can’t hear a thing that is said, and today I heard everything – it’s brilliant”.