Acoustic Sheers: Finding the Right Balance

"I am very satisfied with the acoustical benefits that the Carnegie drapery brought to our new restaurant, Pausa. It's always delightful to hear our customers thank us for building a restaurant that is lively, but also not too noisy. This is always a challenge for new restaurants and I am happy with how our restaurant sounds during our peak business hours."

- Steven Ugur, GM and Owner of Pausa Bar & Cookery.

Designer: CCS Architecture
Location: Pausa Bar & Cookery, San Mateo, CA
Product & End Use: Zetacoustic & Deltacoustic | Acoustic Sheers - Windows/Space Divider
Market: Hospitality

Just the right amount of ambient noise is a critical element for a successful restaurant. If your space is too noisy then patrons can’t carry on normal conversations and there is a good chance they won’t return. If it is too quiet, then clients may perceive it as lacking ambiance or energy which can be a turn off also. Finding the right balance between obtrusively loud and uncomfortably quiet can be difficult.

Pausa's space is a wide-open and airy rectangular shape. The walls, floors and ceilings all consist of hard surfaces. Without the use of an acoustic treatment, sound would reverberate and lower the "speech intelligibility" to an unacceptable level for good conversation. In addition, there was a desire to have the option of visually separating areas of the restaurant to create more intimate areas.

CCS chose Carnegie’s Deltacoustic and Zetacoustic textiles to address both challenges. By hanging them on tracks vertically within the restaurant, spaces can be visually divided while still allowing light to pass through them. At the same time these textiles also significantly reduce sound within the space through use of a technical yarn and construction delivering an effective NRC rating between .55 and .75 as installed.