Residential & Office Sound Insulation

What is residential and office sound insulation?

Residential and office sound insulation is an acoustic engineering practice aimed at measurably reducing sound transmission between apartments, houses, offices and internal rooms. The goal is to bring sound from neighbouring units, the street or internal partitions below an annoying level. Industry standards regard STC 50 or Rw 50 dB and above as the acceptable minimum for residential.

In which spaces is it applied?

This category covers all sound transmission paths affecting daily living and work:

• Party walls, slabs and ceilings between apartments
• Internal residential partitions (bedroom, child's room, study)
• Open-office partitions, meeting rooms and phone booths
• Executive offices and glazed rooms
• Traffic / street noise from facades and windows
• Hotel room separation and corridor-room insulation

How is it applied? Typical process

Our standard residential and office workflow consists of six steps:

1. On-site survey and listening: walking the space, identifying noise sources.
2. Acoustic measurement: current dB level, octave-band analysis and target performance.
3. Design: multi-layer wall/ceiling/floor sections, material selection, simulation verification.
4. Material supply: certified products (BS 476 Class 0, UNI 9175).
5. Installation: meticulous fitting by experienced crews — special attention to corners, transitions and junctions.
6. Final measurement: documented written report confirming the target Rw value.

What target performance values are required?

Target Rw values vary by intended use:

• Between apartments: Rw 50-55 dB (neighbour speech almost inaudible)
• Internal residential partition: Rw 42-48 dB (sufficient privacy)
• Office partition wall: Rw 42-48 dB (meeting/phone privacy)
• Hotel room-to-room: Rw 55-60 dB (premium comfort)
• Facade (against traffic noise): DnT,w + Ctr 38-42 dB

Which materials do we use?

The acoustic materials we prefer for residential and office projects carry international test and fire certificates. A standard partition wall typically comprises:

• Two layers of acoustic plasterboard (high-density)
• 60-80 mm rock wool infill (min. 70 kg/m³)
• Intermediate elastomeric membrane (Tecsound or similar)
• Vibroacoustic hangers and resilient connectors
• Acoustic mastic + resilient tape at corners and transitions

Lead time and cost

A single room typically takes 1-3 days, an apartment 5-10 days, a mid-sized office project 2-4 weeks. Investment depends on space size, target Rw, doors/windows count and flanking transmission. We provide a clear quote after the survey — no surprise costs.

Our field experience

Over 25 years we have completed more than 200 residential, 80 office and 30+ hotel projects. Each project includes pre/post measurement and a written report verifying the target Rw value. Reach out for a tailored solution to your specific noise issue.