Turn noisy classrooms in to comfortable learning hubs with acoustic ceiling and wall solutions

From noisy classroom to learning hubs 
Educational facilitates are known to be noisy, but with small acoustic improvements it can be turned into learning hubs where teachers can teach and the students can hear, learn and think to make a better academic performance.

The school environment is constantly changing, and the acoustics can make a difference to focus and wellbeing in schools. It’s important to remember that designing an educational facility is building the future of tomorrow as the surroundings influence the students and the environment will support, facilitate and encourage them to learn.

Our broad range of acoustic solutions give you the freedom to design, whether you are looking to regulate noise in the classroom or need impact-resistant acoustic solutions in gymnasiums. We’ve got you covered for all the different spaces of a school.

Get the right acoustic solutions for the multifunctional spaces

How to design the communal and breakout areas?
The bell rings and the doors open with students passing and finding their way to the school yard or the next room for attending the next class. The hallways are multi-functional spaces that welcomes and guides students, teachers and visitors through the school, as well as housing students taking a break before next class.

Unfortunately, they’re suffering from a lot of chatter and heavy foot traffic leading to high levels of sound absorption. But small acoustic adjustments will make the areas quiet and comfortable to collaborate, productivity and performance.

Hit the acoustic sweet spot in these areas, acoustic ceilings and durable wall solutions are needed to ensure that noise is effectively controlled
• Access to natural light will give brighter spaces where students are encouraged and stimulated to concentrate
• Use high-quality sound-absorbing materials on the ceilings and walls to reduce the noise and prevent it from reverberating.
• Use thicker and more sound-absorbing materials around the perimeter of the room to further optimise the sound absorption in the lower frequencies
• Don't forget the walls, add acoustic materials to the walls and modulate noise and prevent it from spreading

Creating spaces that function for multiple purposes means that the design needs to appeal to a variety of users. We recommend using our product such as Rockfon Blanka®. It’s our whitest ceiling solution offering best in class acoustics combined with a super white surface obtaining and reflecting daylight amazingly. Or our Rockfon® ScholarTM that gives your Class A sound absorption and durable edges in high-impact areas.

A ceiling that support the important work tasks

The right office and administration solutions for privacy
Teachers’ wellbeing matters and the indoor climate should also concern their preparation time. The office and administration areas of schools are for teachers to go and prepare for their lessons, chat with colleagues and socialise. The design set the educational and professional tone of the school and privacy is an essential factor. Teachers need to feel safe and know that what is discussed doesn’t leave the room.

Sadly, these areas can easily be forgotten as the focus are on the learning areas but it’s important to have energising and comfortable spaces for teachers and administrators too.

Acoustic design tips:
• Use high-quality sound-absorbing materials to reduce the noise and create a relaxing atmosphere
• Focus on sound-insulating materials to keep conversation private and stop the sound from spreading

Create a comfortable environment with outstanding acoustics to support their preparation. We recommend our Rockfon dB solutions as it combined the best of two worlds. The high-performance membrane on the back provides sound insulation and helps reduce the transmission of noise from room-to-room. This is an ideal combination when you want a restful space for private conversations. Or our all-round Rockfon® Tropic™ tile that has Class A sound absorption, and it’s available in a selection of edges and dimensions making it a popular choice.

A learning space for everyone

Classroom design solutions to stimulate learning
The classroom is one of the most important rooms in a school. It’s here the dreams, hopes and knowledge form and grow. It's where students come together to collaborate, think and learn. And nowadays, learning happens in multiple ways that requires careful considerations on acoustics.

The traditional way of teaching needs to consider the speech intelligibility of the teacher so that the students in the back of the room can properly hear what is communicated. Group work requires controlling the sound level in the room to avoid distractions and excessive noise. All speech frequencies need to be considered, low frequencies.

Acoustic design tips:
• Use high-quality sound-absorbing materials within all speech frequencies, especially the low ones.
• A 40mm tile at the perimeters of the room can help increase speech clarity.
• Use the walls for further acoustic mitigation, to minimise echoes and to meet acoustic building requirements

Make yourself heard

We recommend Rockfon Blanka® Activity and Rockfon® VertiQ® wall panel.
Rockfon Blanka Activity is designed for classrooms and have focus on speech intelligibility and reducing high noise levels. It’s ideal for controlling the sound, and its durable surface makes it resistant to dirt making it look as bright as when installed. Rockfon Tropic has a smooth white surface offering Class A sound absorption and Rockfon VertiQ wall panel are durable wall panels highly sound absorbent and impact resistant.

The influence of colour

The right visual design, colours, atmosphere are decisive elements that can either enhance or inhibit the learning experience. Colour influences our emotions and affects our attention and willingness to work. Bringing in colours to a classroom is a great way to communicate the intended purpose of the space. Matt, soft and warm colours have been known to help concentration levels. Why not combine this with acoustics and choose a coloured ceiling?

Our Rockfon Color-all range comes in 34 inspiring and exclusive colours to enhance your interior design scheme and give a facelift to the typical white colour.

Have great hygiene that sounds right

Kitchen and cafeteria
Kitchens and cafeteria serve many students day by day, but it’s a multipurpose area where students meet to eat, talk, hangout or even uses for studying. It’s bustling spaces with a lot of activities and the noise levels can be very high and unwanted sounds can spread to other areas of the school if the acoustics is not considered. It requires a thoughtful design complimenting hygiene and comfortable with great acoustics avoiding the sound levels to escalate.

The design should incorporate a variety of interior design elements like colours or shapes to show different zones or tell a story about the values or character.

Acoustic design tips:
• Use sound-absorbing solutions that meet the most rigorous hygiene codes and safety regulations and that are resistant to mould and bacteria.
• Use highly sound-absorbing ceilings and wall solutions to control the noise levels.
• Play with the design of the ceiling and walls to create a warm and inviting atmosphere in this large space

Keep it clean and sanitary

This lively space of the school requires a considerate design, we recommend our Rockfon® Hygienic™ as it is a non-hygroscopic, durable and specially treated ceiling perfectly for food preparation areas that require frequent ceiling. Or add a brush of colour with our Rockfon Color-all® that gives you the possibility to choose from 34 inspiring and exclusive colours giving you the freedom to design according to the school’s image or character. Or you can install beautiful, frameless acoustic islands from Rockfon Eclipse®. They’re perfectly to improve the acoustic comfort as the improve the sound absorption and is a fun design choice.

The carefree place to play and be active

The gymnasiums
The students are excitingly shouting, throwing balls, gym equipment ricocheting off the floor and walls, and teacher trying to instruct and be heard. This cocktail of noise has a detrimental effect. Keeping a healthy indoor environment benefit both children and teachers, and the energy and movements in these areas can easily create an intolerable Lombard effect that influence the physiological and psychological wellbeing.

Robust acoustic solutions to reduce sounds levels
• Use acoustic sound-absorbing solutions that meet the requirements for impact resistance.
• Use both the ceilings and walls to enhance sound absorption and increase speech clarity.
• Combine with a suspended grid solution specially designed for impact areas

Built to take a hit

The focus is to increase speech clarity with solutions on both the ceiling and walls, and they should be resistant to impact as it’s an active space. We recommend our unique high impact resistance grid system Rockfon® System OlympiaPlus A Impact 1A™. It safeguards your space without worrying about impact damaged and with a selection of our acoustic tiles you get outstanding acoustics as well. Or our Rockfon® VertiQ® HAT A Wall™ Panel that is an attractive and impact resistant wall panel solution with high sound absorption ideal for sports halls and Rockfon® Boxer™ that likewise is highly impact resistant and has excellent sound absorption properties even in low frequencies.
Our acoustic products make it easy to reconfigure a space to look as good as they sound.

The latest trends in schools:
Dynamic learning
As we’ve seen in recent years, schools are moving away from the industrial style of learning, where a teacher stands in front of the students, imparting knowledge with little to no interaction. Today’s schools are much more dynamic, where students debate, learn by doing and work in teams - making students part of the learning community. This places a larger emphasis on good classroom design and the need to control noise levels in greater ways than before. How can we help Speech intelligibility and actively directing or blocking sound leads to happy teachers and students? Our acoustic ceiling and wall solutions meet the very best performance standards on the market that helps improve a students’ ability to concentrate, think and learn.

Shared spaces
What we see now is that schools aren’t only teaching in the classrooms; hallways and lounges are becoming breakout spaces for interconnection and interaction. Adding to the complexity, schools aren’t just used for learning anymore, they’re becoming integrated into the wider community - a shared space for everyone, where a neighbourhood can utilise the space after school hours, maximising the real estate. and building relationships with the town or city. Where do we come in? Creating spaces that function for multiple purposes means that the design needs to appeal to a variety of users. Our acoustic solutions are built for modularity, making it easy to reconfigure a space to look as good as they sound.

A safe space
As we’ve recently seen, the pandemic has forced schools to become more responsive. This has led to design tweaks that have a much higher focus on hygiene, more focus on ventilation systems and the cleanability of building materials throughout the school, in much the same way that you would find in the healthcare sector. How can we support you? Our ceilings are made from stone wool, which is naturally resistant to mould and bacteria. They are easy to clean and designed to meet the most rigorous hygiene codes and safety regulations.

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The influence of Rockfon Color-all
Want to enhance wellbeing and atmosphere by using colour?

Our Rockfon Color-all range gives to the possibility to choose from everything from subtle to bold long-lasting colours. It’s available in an extensive range of semi-concealed and concealed edges in a large variety of module sizes.

Allows you to bring a splash of colour to the walls and set the tone for the classroom to make your design standout

The resistance of Rockfon® VertiQ® wall panel
Attractive and impact-resistant, the highly sound-absorbent acoustic wall panels complement our ceilings to ensure building regulations are met. Bring some durable colour to your walls and choose from a variety of shades like white, light grey, grey and black to complement your school design and create a pattern by installing your wall solutions either horizontally or vertically.

The power of Rockfon Blanka®
Enjoy maximum natural brightness, with 99% light diffusion. Its super-white surface, with its high light reflection and light diffusion, creates a comfortable indoor environment with exceptional acoustics. You get the benefit of an energy savings of up to 23%. With this choice, you’ve a durable product that will look as good as the day it was inst alled.

For more news or product information, you can visit to en.rockfon.international