Acoustic baffles that hang from the ceiling and take the ring out of a room. The Sch! range covers it here: Shade Type A, Type B and Type C, plus the Hatch Type D, all suspended vertically so both faces of the panel are working. Ceiling acoustics are the quiet fix for the problem nobody budgets for, an open plan office that sounded fine empty and turned unbearable once everyone moved in.
What ceiling baffles actually do
Hard floors, plasterboard ceilings and glass partitions reflect sound instead of soaking it up, so speech keeps bouncing long after the sentence has finished. That is what makes a busy room tiring: nobody can pick one voice out of the wash, so everyone raises their own and the floor gets louder by degrees. Baffles hang down into the air where those reflections travel and absorb on both sides, shortening how long each noise hangs around. The room does not go silent, it goes clear, and you notice it first on the phone.
Hanging is straightforward. Baffles drop on wires or chains from the soffit or the grid, usually 300mm to 600mm below the ceiling, and run in parallel rows across the width of the room. As a rule of thumb, cover between a fifth and a quarter of the ceiling area for a change you can hear, keep clear of sprinkler heads, lights and ventilation, and space the rows evenly rather than clustering them over one desk pod.
Where baffles fit alongside screens
Ceiling absorption handles what travels over your head, but it will not stop the conversation two metres away, so most rooms want both. Wall acoustics treat the flat surfaces sound bounces off, desktop and acoustic screens block voices at ear height, floor screens split a room without building one, and privacy booths and pods give people somewhere to take a call. Upholstered soft seating absorbs more than people expect, and the wider office furnishings range brings the rest together.
Ceiling acoustics in Belfast and across Northern Ireland
We are Office Interior Solutions, based in Belfast and working across Northern Ireland, so a job in Derry, Newry, Bangor or Lisburn is handled the same way as one round the corner in Newtownabbey. Our own fitters hang the baffles, set the drops so the rows sit level, and take the packaging away.
Acoustics are easier to judge on site than from a photograph. Send us the room dimensions and a note of what the floor and ceiling are made of, or ring +44 (0)2890 770019, and we will say honestly whether baffles alone will fix it or whether the walls need treating too.
