maximise
productivity
— minimise
disruption
45dB is a full service sound design consultancy. We design, supply and install systems to make your workplace work harder.
We focus on injecting value in four ways:
01
Consultation
‘Inspiring with our insight’
Bringing specialised expertise we find out what you are looking for. Build team interaction quickly, ensuring excellent sound design is built-in from first concepts, enhancing execution all the way through.
03
Partnership
‘United in our approach’
We partner with the many different professionals and teams involved in your fit-out process to find the best design for your business.
02
Design
‘Intelligent solutions’
We offer more than just advice, we innovate and design new systems to help you get the most from your workforce and workplace.
04
Supply & Installation
‘Seeing things through’
We choose products which do the job properly. Acoustic treatments, sound masking and sound scaping are not apples for apples, some will do the job and others won’t. The right products and systems used in the right way is our bread and butter.
Our acoustic solutions let sound travel only where it needs to — allowing people to concentrate one minute, and collaborate the next.
how the magic works
absorption
blocking
conditioning
Acoustic products and technologies are wide ranging but can be broken down into 3 distinct groups.
We create a tailored solution to fit your space, your culture and intention.
Your interior architecture and design is unique and will affect sound in its own particular way.
Defining your intention first and the impact you want to make is essential.
Businesses are different and have to present themselves to their visitors differently - are you a young and vibrant tech company or an austere and serious legal firm?
A ping pong table in an office does a lot more than break up monotony - it presents an image of a company’s culture for staff and visitors to work with.
Sound can enhance a space in a similar way. A green wall may present a companies intentions and committment to the environment - surround it with the sound of nature goes the whole way.
Acoustic Absorption is required to correct reverberation of sound or echo. Without absorption, sound has nowhere to go reverberates around the space. As one person speaks,the sound stays in the space for longer and as someone else speaks they must speak louder to be heard over that reverberating sound.
absorption
In most cafes, restaurants and bars, visitors compete to be heard, where the sound level can quickly reach ridiculous levels. In office spaces, the hollow echo of some modern interiors is similar to working in a factory. Acoustic absorption, in various forms, helps restore balance:
acoustic panels
Acoustic panels are the most common product used to control reverberation. In modern minimal office spaces, cafes, restaurants and bars, acoustic panels play an essential part in preventing the build up of sound.
acoustic ceiling grids
Traditional acoustic ceiling used mainly in office spaces may be out of fashion, but they do a fantastic job both correcting reverberation and hiding unsightly services. Covering a large area, reverberation throughout an entire office space can be corrected.
acoustic baffles
When suspended ceilings are not used, acoustic absorption is still required to control reverberation. Acoustic baffles maximise sound absorbing surface area, usually being suspended vertically from the soffit. As such, they can be used to control reverberation in areas with large volume such as offices or shopping centre atria.
blocking
partitioning
Creating rooms for meeting, boardroom and focused private work. Partitioning is the obvious and effective way to define space and create privacy. Workspace fit-out uses these systems in conjunction with suspended and fixed ceilings and ambient sound to ensure speech privacy.
screens
Although complete privacy is reserved for cellular enclosed office space using partitioning, mobile and fixed screening is not only used to define space but plays an important part in blocking the path of sound across open-plan workspace.
acoustic furniture
Blocking sound transfer and absorbing sound production at source is a great addition to any open workplace.
sound conditioning
Absorbing sound to control reverberation and blocking sound to contain it, require fixed acoustic elements. Sound masking or conditioning systems manage ambient sound levels which create acoustic distance between spaces and individuals.
Simply installing a masking system to do this won’t wash. All the benefits are found in fine tuning the entire space. We are experts in sound masking design our systems ensuring the right products are chosen to solve a myriad of needs specific to your business.
Effective sound design is always personal, a snug-fit with your own teams inclinations, habits and behaviours. The latest Activity Based Working office design needs special attention to separate the collaborative from the concentrative.
adaptive sound
One size doesn’t fit all. In open-plan, activity levels change throughout the day and if sound masking is set to a catch-all maximum it can become irritating at quieter periods of the day when collaboration is low. Adaptive sound increases and decreases the ambient sound level in line with activity to optimize acoustics throughout the day.
accurate calibration
Every zone must be calibrated precisely ensuring speech frequencies are covered perfectly and comfortably to the ear for each individual behaviour in each work zone.
the right spectrum
Sound spectra vary, some for smooth peaceful and others for more vibrancy. Other sounds inter-dispersed like cafe noise or sounds from nature all add up to influence and optimise behaviour across the whole space.
