Acoustics
with more surfaces, leading to longer reverberation times and more pronounced acoustic issues. A lot of reverberation can create a boomy or echoey sound experience. On the other hand, a well-executed large room can deliver a powerful and immersing audio experience.
Small rooms tend to have limited space for sound to travel and can often result in a tight, constrained soundstage. In smaller rooms, sound waves are absorbed more quickly by walls, floors, and ceilings, resulting in shorter reverberation times and fewer reflections.
The shape of the room is another critical component that influences the sound experience. Rectangular rooms are generally preferred in design for their predictable sound wave behaviour. However, in a long thin room, as opposed to a square room, the distances between the speaker and the listener are extended. Rooms with irregular shapes or obstructions like pillars can create acoustic anomalies that are harder to predict and
Case Study Welford Gardens
Award winning interior designer Diana Cellela is the commercial director of The Drawing Room Interiors, specialising in healthcare design, and part-time module leader for the MA in Interior Design at the Arts University of Bournemouth. She finds that acoustics are often overlooked or de- prioritised in care homes. “As an interior designer specialising in care
and retirement living, I integrate acoustic considerations into every project. As someone with moderate hearing loss, I am very aware of how isolating poor acoustics can be. My hearing aids don’t always distinguish between the conversation I’m having and background noise, making social interactions challenging.” At Welford Gardens, a new-build care home in Oxfordshire, thoughtful acoustic
design has been applied throughout. In Image 1, the front-of-house reception and bistro illustrate key acoustic strategies. Carpet in the reception area helps absorb sound, while panelled walls improve acoustics by breaking up sound waves and reducing echoes. Instead of noise bouncing directly off hard surfaces, the panels help scatter and soften sound, making conversations clearer. Upholstered chairs in soft, sound-absorbing fabrics, such as velvet, further reduce reverberation. The vinyl flooring has acoustic properties, and a fabric-backed wallcovering provides additional noise control. Image 2 shows a corridor, a critical area where unwanted noise could disturb residents resting in their rooms. Carpet has
been used to soften footsteps, and fabric- backed wallcoverings help absorb sound. Fully upholstered chairs also contribute to a quieter, more comfortable environment. Finally, the lounge and dining room in Image 3 demonstrate solutions for managing noise in large spaces, where controlling sound is more complex. Room dividers break up the space to reduce echo, and dining chairs have fabric backs to aid sound absorption. Full-length curtains further help to dampen noise, creating a more sociable and comfortable setting for residents.
By making acoustics a key part of interior design, we can create care environments that support inclusion, communication, and overall wellbeing.
Materials with high absorption properties reduce background noise
manage. These ‘imperfections’ can lead to uneven frequency response across different seating positions.
In a large open plan room with multi- purpose spaces, sound isolation is crucial to prevent conversations or activities in one area from disturbing others. This is especially important where privacy is desired.
Background noise / noise disturbance It may seem obvious, but excessive noise levels can make it difficult to hear conversations, speakers, or performances clearly. Regardless of hearing loss, the ageing brain becomes less adept at filtering speech from background noise. A younger person can get the speech intelligibility of a person speaking where their voice is quieter than the prevailing background noise. As
we age, the opposite begins to apply i.e. the speech needs to be more and more prominent compared to the ambient noise to achieve speech intelligibility. Most older people have some degree of
impaired hearing, even if it is just the loss of ability to hear high frequencies. This means that sound at lower frequencies can become overwhelming and separating speech from background noise is difficult. Some older people become very sensitive to noise, often particular noises such as the clatter of cutlery.
This gradual deterioration of ability to hear speech in noise, when combined with age related hearing loss and potential cognitive decline, all together make it more and more difficult for individuals to hear in any environment that is not quiet, even when the speaker is in close proximity. Noise intrusion can be a problem for
anyone in a communal environment, but especially for someone living with dementia who may only be able to think about one thing at a time. For example, playing music
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www.thecarehomeenvironment.com June 2025
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