Located in Sydney’s beachside suburb of Coogee, La Spiaggia is a popular, family-owned Italian restaurant that had experienced issues with excessive noise levels.
It was the upstairs area, consisting of carpeted floor, fabric wall panels and solid timber panels, that caused regular frustration as it was far too noisy for diners, a common issue that exists in many restaurants today.
The loss of repeat customers and subsequent impact on his business prompted the owner Maurizio Lombardo to look for a solution to the restaurant’s poor acoustic issues.
By chance, Instyle’s founder and managing director Michael Fitzsimons had experienced the uncomfortable noise levels himself. He suggested to Maurizio that Instyle’s new acoustic product Ecoustic® Veneer would resolve this problem as well as seamlessly blend with the restaurant’s existing interior.
In consultation with acoustic specialist Glenn Leembruggen, principal acoustician at Acoustic Directions, Instyle recommended the installation of perforated Ecoustic® Veneer, which achieves a noise reduction coefficient of NRC 0.8, on one feature and three smaller walls in the noise-prone areas. The Ecoustic® Veneer panels were easy to install and retrofitted over the existing timber panels during the day while the restaurant was closed.
Acoustic Directions measured patron noise levels before and after the installation of Ecoustic® Veneer, with the results showing a marked reduction in conversational noise levels. Intrinsic in this outcome is that diners don’t have to raise their voices as much to be heard. In essence, the introduction of Ecoustic® Veneer panels has significantly inhibited the noise-begets-noise phenomenon that makes many restaurants uncomfortable for patrons.
The restaurant owner’s response to the effectiveness of Ecoustic® Veneer in reducing noise levels was overwhelming.
“We are so pleased with Ecoustic® Veneer in reducing noise in our restaurant. It works perfectly. Previously, customers would tell us they loved our food and service but could not tolerate the noise within the restaurant. We’ve even had customers request to be seated in the downstairs area as upstairs was too noisy. Now we can confidently seat a group of 50 people upstairs as the noise levels are considerably lower and our customers can hear each other,” says Maurizio.
