Applications and benefits of acoustic flooring

[edit] Acoustic wellbeing

Reducing sound is more than just a ‘nice to have’; it promotes the health of staff and service users, helping support stress-free environments. Noise levels from people and noise pollution from equipment and devices reverberate over sound- reflecting hard surfaces, extend over distances and linger; consequently, they can have a serious impact on everyone’s wellbeing.

A positive sound environment occurs naturally outdoors; our ears are tuned to the natural environment, and the sky absorbs noise. We need to create the same indoors, absorbing or diffusing noise to help support a stress-free environment. Designs that have good acoustics, along with natural light and ventilation, help create a positive, therapeutic atmosphere.

Acoustic flooring generally refers to flooring that helps provide sound insulation, thus dampening the effects of sound from within the room, be it airborne noise or impact noise. Acoustic flooring is different from soundproof underlay or flooring, which is designed to reduce sound coming through the floor from adjoining areas.

[edit] Example applications of acoustic floors

Where can acoustic floors be used to best effect? Here are some examples:

[edit] Commercial kitchens

Whether in a restaurant, hotel, hospital, university, school or care home, they have one thing in common: they are really noisy! Acoustic and impact sound reducing floors can help reduce noise significantly to enhance the wellbeing of all those who work here.

[edit] Hotels

Nothing disturbs a good night’s sleep more than the sound of other guests moving about in the room above yours or wheeling their suitcase past your door at midnight. Acoustic flooring helps reduce sound transmission between storeys and adjacent rooms and increases sound absorption along corridors to keep your guests coming back for some peace and quiet.

[edit] Care homes

Improve the chances of residents sleeping well and not disturbing each other by incorporating sound reducing flooring into your corridors and bedrooms. They also enhance a sense of privacy in visitor lounges.

[edit] Education

Libraries, student accommodation, dining rooms, and playrooms; spaces that either demand quiet upfront or would benefit from minimising noise transmission to other areas. The right floor can reduce impact sound transmission, not just into adjoining rooms but also to other storeys.

[edit] Housing

Reduce tenant complaints about noisy neighbours next door, above or below them by installing appropriate sound absorbing floors.

[edit] Hospitals

Peace and quiet aid recovery and protect privacy, so surfaces that contribute to them are essential across of a hospital, including: intensive care or wards in which resting and sleep are vital for patients; corridors in which the sounds from trolleys and wheelchairs can be a constant source of distress; and consultation rooms in which private conversations should not be overheard.

[edit] Offices

Office equipment, people on the move and conversations can all make noise levels so loud as to make offices a stressful working environment. Not good when you spend the best part of your day there. Create a more positive working environment with less noise pollution in open plan spaces, communal areas, and meeting rooms.

[edit] Retail

No one like a noisy shop. Retail therapy by its very nature demands quiet for it to count as therapy and create the right atmosphere, thereby providing not only a more peaceful environment for staff, but also one in which shoppers will linger.

Most manufacturers have acoustic flooring options. Consider how each area is used and weigh-up sound reduction properties alongside those such as slip-resistance, durability, and aesthetics – you should be able to find options that deliver what you need.

This article appears in the AT Journal issues 56 Winter 2025 as "The benefits of acoustic flooring" and was written by Dave Ford, Specifications Manager – North, Altro.

--CIAT

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings

• Acoustic insulation market.
• Acoustic design for health and wellbeing.
• Acoustic louvre.
• Acoustics in the workplace.
• Airborne sound.
• Approved Document E.
• Ash deafening.
• BREEAM Insulation.
• Building acoustics.
• Building Bulletin 93: acoustic design of schools.
• CIAT articles.
• Decibel.
• Flanking sound.
• Floating floors in buildings.
• Impact sound.
• Mineral wool.
• Movable walls.
• Noise - doors and windows.
• Noise nuisance.
• Part E compliance.
• Pre-completion sound testing.
• Reverberation.
• Robust details certification scheme.
• Room acoustics.
• Rw and Dw/DnTw in Acoustics.
• Separating floor
• Sound absorption.
• Sound absorption coefficient.
• Sound frequency.
• Sound insulation in buildings
• Sound insulation in dwellings: Part 1: An introduction (GG 83-1).
• Sound insulation in dwellings: Part 3: Material change of use (conversions) (GG 83-3).
• Sound insulation testing.
• Sound v noise.
• Sound reduction index (SRI).
• Sprung floor
• Structure-borne sound.
• Suitable insulation can help preserve the golden sound of silence.
• Types of insulation