Scientific studies have shown that the perceived atmosphere in a restaurant is influenced not only by the quality of the food, but also by the acoustics and the general noise level. All senses together define the final customer experience. More and more restaurant owners and other operators in the HoReCa industry are paying attention to this issue, and we at Lumir are convinced that good restaurant acoustics can be a very strong competitive factor. Good room acoustics* make it easy for people to hear each other and stay in the space for longer.

Minimizing background noise is worthwhile, as people do not have to raise their voices unnecessarily in the restaurant, which increases the overall noise of the space. Of course, a little “noise” can be cozy in a bistro-style milieu, but people want to be able to communicate and be understood correctly. Good room acoustics also serve people who have hearing problems or communicate in a foreign language. The intelligibility of speech in a foreign language improves significantly in a well-acoustic space.

CUSTOMER CASE: Baskeri Basso Kulma restaurant, Tehtaankatu 27-29, Helsinki

How to implement good acoustics in a restaurant, bar or nightclub?

1. By creating good room acoustics, i.e. the harmful propagation of sounds and noise in the space, the harmful propagation of the space is prevented by adding sound-absorbing surfaces to the space, thereby reducing the reverberation time of the space. This improves speech clarity and privacy between tables. The space can also be divided into different sectors, for example, the most effective attenuation is installed near the dance floor and the perceived sound quality improves. In this way, the volume of the sound can be adjusted according to the needs of the premises
2. By reducing the amount of noise coming from outside: in the case of a new building, good air and step sound insulation is created in the structures. Subsequent repair of structures is already more laborious and expensive. When renovating a restaurant space, you should focus on items 1 and 3 of the list
3. By reducing the amount of noise generated inside the restaurant: machines and appliances with quiet decibels are preferred. Air conditioners can also be too noisy. Increase noise reduction where the most disturbing sounds are created

Conscious management of reverberation time improves comfort in restaurants

In general, the problem with speech modes is too long reverberation time, which makes speech incomprehensible. Something should therefore be done about this at an early planning stage. Porous materials absorb sound well and it is possible to get their absorption ratio close to 1, so that the surface absorbs all sound waves. When the value is zero, the surface does not absorb sound at all, and this is the case, for example, with stone floors or glass. For a long time, the trend has been to design large spacious spaces with minimalist décor. This trend, together with the extensive use of hard surface materials, often leads to poor acoustics. Therefore, it is worth paying attention to good room acoustics and thus improving people’s comfort in the space.

Lumir’s carbon-negative wood-based biofibre is an excellent acoustic material precisely because of its porosity. We have achieved excellent results by spraying the Lumir Comfort acoustic coating directly on hard materials, without other acoustic base materials, as in the case of the aforementioned BaskeriBasso restaurant. We will soon tell you more about other restaurant destinations this summer.

Another option is to install acoustic base materials suitable for the space, such as Lumir Board (LB) perforated drywall under the coating. An example of this is Porvoon Runo hotel (picture below).

Interior design solutions that improve room acoustics

However, in terms of the user experience of the space, it is not always enough to achieve the official guidelines related to the sound environment drawn up by the Ministry of the Environment. For the reverberation time in the dining area, it is less than or equal to 1.2 seconds. The interior design of the space and the surface materials used make a big difference, and with less than one second reverberation time, the space can sometimes feel disturbingly noisy and restless. This is especially true in spaces rich in space and hard surfaces (stone, glass, concrete, etc.).

Photos below: Hotel St George and Wintergarden. The low suspended ceiling surfaces are acoustic with Lumir Comfort coating and sounds do not bounce up into the spacious space. The building services are conveniently hidden behind service hatches coated by Lumir.

A few tips to improve room acoustics with interior design solutions:

• Add sound-absorbing surface materials to suspended ceilings and walls. The Lumir Comfort acoustic coating is the only carbon-negative coating on the market that acoustically accumulates in itself. With this solution, the surface will always be seamless. The surface structure can be finished from almost smooth to spray. The solution is aesthetic and does not change the architecture of the space
• Take advantage of sound-dispersing structures such as shelves or hanging elements
• Finish with curtains and carpets. Ordinary curtains are often sufficient for the frequencies of speech sounds, and thicker acoustic curtains help to dampen low sounds
• If you want to decorate without gestures and respect the shape of the surfaces of the space, the best option is seamless sprayable acoustics such as Lumir.

How to proceed with planning and implementation?

An entrepreneur and interior designer or architect of a space can make a big difference to enjoying a restaurant, bar, café or nightclub by giving acoustics the value they deserve in the overall design. Of course, a restaurant doesn’t have to be too anechoic and silent on the other hand. With good room acoustic design, the ideal compromise can be found in terms of the sound environment, and people at the same table can easily hear each other.

We at Lumir are happy to help you with acoustics-related plans and solutions. Our operations are based on science and, if necessary, we verify changes in the state before and after with acoustic measurements. Our team will be happy to help you even before the restaurant opens, so that the first impression received by customers is immediately positive and there is no need to repair the space afterwards.

Choose a natural sound environment from Lumir and your customers will enjoy themselves – time and time again.

Further information:

Marika Lang, Sales and Marketing Manager, +358 40(0)529 4459, marika.lang@lumir.fi

* Room acoustics describe how the sound generated in the space behaves in the room.

*Reverberation time (T) is a quantity that indicates how quickly the sound turns off in a space. The longer the reverberation time, the harder it is to understand speech or music, for example.