Sound dampening meeting rooms

In South Africa, a double layer of shell scheme walling is normally used to create private meeting rooms. However this method is not very effective at blocking out noise. The COP17 CCR Expo would host a variety of different events simultaneously over twelve days, and they required a solution that would provide quiet spaces to facilitate the success of these events.

Each of the rooms had amplified AV components and this provided the challenge of having to dampen the sound in the adjacent rooms. Given that the COP17 CCR Expo was managed in such a way as to minimise its environmental impact, the solution needed to have environmentally-friendly credentials.

Scan overcame these challenges by sourcing a material with sound-dampening qualities, which was then implemented in a modular design with a double layer for both the walls and ceilings (as sound travels through ceilings even more easily than walls). The selected material was Magna-Struct Board, which is made from natural minerals in a way that requires minimal processing. The board can be crushed and recycled, and for this reason Scan chose not to paint it.

Scan was pleased to see that the meeting rooms at the Expo proved to be perfect for the SABC and its teams' interview areas, for directors' meetings, and as platforms where debates and meetings could be held. This was the first time a modular system like this had been used in South Africa for this purpose, firmly entrenching Scan as leaders in innovation and in servicing clients' needs.

Scan is very proud of the design team who developed this system, which has subsequently been used for the Presentation Theatre at Meetings Africa 2012. Meeting areas are a necessity at exhibitions and conferences - now exhibition and event organisers can provide private and sound proof facilities.

"We commend our team who sourced, designed and implemented the sound dampening meeting rooms for COP17 in order to fulfil the client brief. We are looking forward to using this product in future at other exhibitions," said Justin Hawes, Scan's Managing Director.

For more information please contact Justin Hawes on +27 11 447 4777 or az.oc.yalpsidnacs@nitsuj.