Acoustics is important to your building and its occupants, no matter if it’s an open-office environment, school or healthcare facility.
At the AIA conference in Las Vegas, CertainTeed is displaying its solutions to the challenges of all these environments. CertainTeed focuses on unique acoustical solutions while working with clients to enable the design that works for them.
(Photo: Acoustic panels from CertainTeed at the AIA Conference 2019. Credit: Christoph Trappe)
Chris Bourque, director of marketing for CertainTeed, points to the benefits of good acoustics:
- In education, students learn better and get better grades
- In hospitals, patients have a better recovery rate
- In the office, there’s better concentration and productivity
Acoustics With Design in Mind
CertainTeed views acoustics as more than just function, working with architects to enable design, not get in the way. Products integrate with one another and have smooth finishes from one family to another.
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Acoustics that Enable Architectural Design
CertainTeed created an acoustical solution that enables architects to create aesthetically pleasing, functional designs that can be tailored to suit colors, shapes, and other customized elements needed for schools, hospitals and more.
Christoph Trappe chats with Chris Bourque on the AIA Conference floor. Listen now >>
“We know acoustics and how to arrange one product with another,” Bourque says. “We’re here to enable design dreams. We want to be very careful that we don’t prescribe a solution. We listen and then enable a design solution.”
(Photo: Acoustic panels from CertainTeed at the AIA Conference 2019. Credit: Christoph Trappe)
When working with designers, he notes, they offer products in a variety of colors and forms, can create one-of-a-kind artistic solutions or can focus on functional or budget-oriented projects. “We listen to the client and talk about the environment and their design intent,” Bourque says.
CertainTeed can help with challenges clients have, or provide unique solutions, like Bourque’s examples of a school that might want school colors for its acoustical panels; or an organization that has to replace wood and can’t afford to replace it with wood, but wants to keep the look.
Solution to Open Office Noise
One new solution that CertainTeed is showcasing at AIA addresses the open office trend. Ecophon clouds and baffles came from the fact that a lot of building design is now open and without ceilings, creating a lot of noise, Bourque explains.
“As that design trend continues, we need a solution for it,” he says. “We can tell you exactly which products to put in to achieve the acoustics you need.”
[Related: How to Reduce Noise in Your Building]
CertainTeed offers artistic shapes that can hang vertically and horizontally around lights and sprinklers above the areas that need acoustical support.
Various Material Forms
Another solution CertainTeed is highlighting at AIA is its different material forms. It has material forms for metal and wood, but also items that mimic those materials.
If someone wants a certain look but it’s not feasible for a certain reason, CertainTeed can provide a solution. Often a project might have a certain budget, someone might like wood but need acoustics, or durability might come into play, and CertainTeed offers looks to fit the project goals.
“We’re very flexible when it comes to ceilings,” Bourque says. “When it comes to providing acoustic solutions or different forms, standard and customized, we can do highly customized.”
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