by Agostina Ferrentino, Clara Rius, and Ramón Torrents Introduction: Space for music The hospital is one of the most acoustically demanding environments that exist. Medical equipment, alarms, conversations and continuous activity generate noise levels that affect both rest and the emotional state of patients and staff. For decades, healthcare design has focused on minimising this impact […]
research
The many impacts of inadequate acoustic environments on neurodivergent and noise sensitive people.
Guest post by Carmen Rosas-Pérez (a PhD student at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh (UK)). Overview This post summarises the research done for my PhD Thesis ‘Disabling Acoustics: Impact of daily-life acoustic environments on neurodivergent, auraldivergent and noise sensitive people’ carried at Heriot-Watt University (UK) and funded by a James Watt scholarship. As a neurodivergent acoustic engineer […]
Patient-Centric Design: The Room Entrance as a Strategic Acoustic Filter
By Veronica Amodeo Patient-Centric Design Hospital environments have a significant influence on patient recovery, not only through clinical care but also through environmental factors that impact biological, psychological, and social well-being. Among these factors, noise remains one of the most critical and yet insufficiently controlled stressors. Excessive sound exposure in healthcare settings has been linked […]
The importance of C50 for speech communication and classroom group activities
This study investigates the acoustic conditions of 26 primary school classrooms during lessons. There was a specific focus on how classroom activity type, student age, and room acoustics shape both speech levels and activity noise. Using Gaussian Mixture Models, the researchers separated teacher and student speech from non-speech activity noise across 93 homogeneous activity periods. […]
Autism and auditory needs – An overview for accessible indoor spaces
“Ten questions concerning autism and auditory accessibility in buildings” is a recent paper which takes a deep dive into the topic The comprehensive literature study “Ten questions concerning autism and auditory accessibility in buildings” examines how autistic individuals experience sound within the built environment. The overview highlights major shortcomings in current design standards and offers […]
Vertical absorption in Healthcare
National standards in the Healthcare are lacking In many countries, national standards, regulations, and guidelines in the healthcare sector are lacking and rarely include vertical absorption. One could therefore say that in many cases, building hospitals, elderly care homes, and psychiatric wards is the ‘wild west’ regarding acoustics. We are lucky when new buildings are […]
Planning Ahead for 2026: Acoustic Conferences and Submission Deadlines
Do you know the mix of relief, happiness, and a feeling of power that comes right after submitting a conference paper at the very last minute? While last-minute submissions or trip bookings release adrenaline, planning ahead is still the better strategy – especially when 2026 is packed with excellent acoustics conferences that you might want […]
Acoustic and indoor air quality conditions on sensory and cognitive responses of university students
In this guest post, Matteo Pellegrini post doc researcher at University of Ferrara shares his latest research paper looking into students sensory and cognitive responses to their university acoustic and indoor air quality conditions. Matteo Pellegrini Post doc researcher University of Ferrara, Italy Study introduction Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) describes the overall quality of an […]
Improving acoustic comfort at Chelsea and Westminster hospital -The SILENTS study
Ecophon have been part of the Sound in Clinical Environments (SILENTS) study, looking at the effects of noise in the Acute Assessment Unit at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, a project funded by the hospital’s official charity CW+. The aim of the study is to improve the experience of the acoustic environment on a […]
The effect of a reduced reverberation time on students and their performance in higher education classrooms: a between-groups experiment
Research about the effect of reverberation time reduction on students and their performance was carried out by Henk W. Brink. Study Overview This study explored an alteration of the classrooms’ reverberation time (RT). This lead to acoustic conditions meeting quality class A of Dutch guidelines, resulting in a positive effect on students’ perceptions and performance. […]
