03 · Acoustic construction

Acoustic doors and windows

A wall is only as good as its openings. Doors, glazing and movable partitions decide what an isolated room actually achieves, and they are where most shells fail.

Everything in this section

Every opening is a deliberate hole in a structure built to stop sound. It performs as an assembly — leaf, frame, seals, threshold and the wall it sits in — which is why we supply and install them as assemblies rather than fitting a heavy door into somebody else's opening.

A laboratory rating belongs to a complete tested assembly. Put the same leaf in a light partition, or leave a gap under it, and the rating is irrelevant: sound takes the easiest path it can find, and an unsealed 10 mm gap at the floor will undo a wall that took weeks to build.

What we supply

Specified together, not separately

The opening, the assembly and the wall around it are one specification. We set the target for the room, choose constructions that can reach it, and detail the junctions — head, jamb, threshold, and the wall's own build-up — so the weakest element is not several grades below the rest.

Sound follows the easiest path. In a finished room, that path is almost always an opening.

Single door setMeeting rooms, offices, studios where circulation allows a swing leaf.
Double door set with lobbyStudios, halls and plant rooms needing high isolation; the lobby is the second line.
Glazed assemblyControl rooms, observation rooms, facades where a sightline is required.
Fixed partitionBuilt to the slab, sealed, with services crossings detailed.
Sliding doorWhere a swing leaf would foul equipment or an escape route.
Movable wallHalls that divide and recombine through the day.

What we need to quote

  • Opening sizes, and the wall construction they sit in.
  • What is on each side, and how much separation is needed.
  • Floor finishes both sides, and whether a threshold is acceptable.
  • Fire, escape and access requirements on the opening.
  • Whether the room stays in use while the work is done.

Tell us the room

Send dimensions and intended use. You get back an indicative acoustic treatment, a systems outline and a budget range.