Have you ever been in a large gymnasium shooting hoops, but every time the ball bounces on the ground, a flurry of echoes follows? Large open rooms with high ceilings generally have bad acoustics and sound quality issues. In large, open commercial spaces such as gymnasiums, office spaces, and warehouses, sound waves have a longer reverberation time, which basically means they take longer to lose their energy. This longer reverberation time causes problems with sound quality and speech intelligibility, so having a conversation or distinguishing noise is very difficult. Acoustic treatments will reduce the reverberation time, also reducing this problem. And while the most common placement for acoustic materials is on the walls, large rooms will see numerous benefits from acoustic treatments on the ceiling.

In this article, we will dive into why you may need acoustic treatments on your ceiling and the best way to go about it.

Why Treating the Ceiling with Acoustic Material is a Good Idea

The first reason that treating the ceiling with sound absorption is a good idea is that the materials will be out of the way. Instead of having acoustic panels spread across the wall space, you can install sound absorption on the ceiling where it is less likely to be noticed or damaged. This makes Mela Mute™ a great pick for hanging applications. Check out our acoustic foam wave baffles, wave clouds, and hanging egg crate baffles.

Another reason to treat your ceiling with sound absorption is that the ceiling is parallel to the floor. Therefore, treating the ceiling with acoustic materials allows for even absorption throughout the room. When there is only sound absorption on the walls of a large open room, the center of the room will be furthest away from those treatments and have worse sound quality than near the walls. We call these distortions “hot spots”, and they can be super annoying.

Acoustic materials are very effective at reducing sound energy in a space by absorbing sound waves that would other reflect off hard surfaces in a room, creating echo or reverb.

Most smaller spaces can get by without any specialized acoustical treatments or by using acoustic treatments on the walls. However, big rooms with high ceilings and spaces that have lots of noise or high fidelity listening requirements will need some extra help. One big benefit of using acoustical ceiling treatments is that the materials can be installed without changing the look of the room.

For example, if you are a restaurant owner, you may not want to place acoustical panels all around the walls of your dining area. It’s a very effective solution! But maybe you already have stuff on the walls that you like or don’t want to remove. Placing some acoustical materials on the ceiling might be the perfect option, because you may be able to blend the treatment into the ceiling in a way that will be unnoticeable or add to the aesthetics of the room.

There are several types of spaces where an acoustic treatment on the ceiling is very common.

Ceiling Treamtents Needed in Gymnasiums and Warehouses

Gyms and warehouses are large and typically have hard floors, walls, and high ceilings. All that air volume in the room is a playground for soundwaves, and requires treatment. By treating the ceiling, you won’t create any “hot spots” – because the ceiling is generally equidistant from the floor. You’ll also be installing the materials where they are high enough to be undisturbed and unseen. We see BlocknZorbe™ baffles and BlocknZorbe™ clouds often in fiber-free enviroments, and EcoVerb™ cotton fiber baffles in places that need a LOT of absorption.

Warehouses may also have loud machinery at work, so anything you can do to quiet down the noise inside the building will make it a more pleasant environment for workers. Soundproof a warehouse with a more targeted treatment around loud machinery. We recommend checking out our Quiet Quilt soundproof enclosures for both portable and fixed noise control.

Acoustic Ceiling Treatments needed in Open Office Spaces

A large office space might have dozens of people working in an open floor plan, which means lots of sound from conversations, printers, paper shuffling around, and more. Office spaces can quickly have noise levels that get out of control – especially when some of the employees are regularly on the phone, so it is crucial to do an acoustic treatment in your office. Office space owners will seek out ceiling acoustic treatment to absorb the noise in a room, allowing workers to concentrate more with fewer sound-related distractions. Another common solution is to soundproof the cubicles or workstations in the open office, which is very effective and commonly used to reduce the noise level by 50% or more.

Noisy Restaurants Should use Acoustic Ceiling Panels

A restaurant is not always a large open space, but when many people are packed in a small room with reflective surfaces, acoustics become a concern. We have had many restaurant owners come to us with complaints about the noise level and sound quality in their restaurants. Restaurant acoustic panels and acoustical ceiling treatments are a great way to reduce the echo and reverb without compromising the restaurant's aesthetic. Many customers choose to use our Timberwool™ Wood Fiber Panels, which can be painted to match any room, or get one of the 12 color options for PolyZorbe™ Vivid acoustic panels. And in the end, your customers will be happier since they can have conversations with each other comfortably instead of yelling across the table at their friends and family.

Here are some of the common methods for treating a ceiling with absorptive materials.