Reducing noise levels continues to be top of mind for commercial designers—whether it’s in a busy office, a hotel lobby full of guests on the go or a restaurant with chatty diners. From MDC Wallcoverings, Zintra Acoustic Solutions offer a cost-effective sound absorbing solution ranging between a 0.45-0.90 Noise Reduction Coefficient.
Zintra panels, specifically, are ripe for commercial applications. They arrive pre-cut, so panels are easily installed with proper adhesive. Zintra panels are also available in 20 standard colors and 30 pre-fabricated design options. The product absorbs sound, allowing employees to work without distraction and hospitality guests to experience interiors comfortably.
The Zintra collection is also customizable—from color to texture to shape—making the product “a versatile product for any space,” says Sydney LaRoche, marketing specialist for MDC Wallcoverings.
GitHub
Along with its open spaces, software development platform GitHub’s San Francisco office needed quiet areas for its employees to work undistracted. MDC wrapped Zintra panels around the curved walls of individual carrels inside GitHub’s library.
The company chose red for inside the carrels, as well as several textures to add visual interest. The overall goal was to create areas where software developers can collaborate without generating a lot of noise and quiet, private workspaces.
► This new ceiling system provides top down acoustics
Xero
Accounting software company Xero needed an acoustical solution for its new firm in Denver. Xero wanted to highlight its open office design, but still create quiet rooms for meetings and to tone down the acoustics, LaRoche says. Textured Zintra panels are on the walls of quiet work rooms—but a less obvious application is hung from the ceiling.
Xero selected a Zintra baffle system for an area of open office. “It’s an interesting highlight, because it gives [the space] a very modern appearance,” LaRoche says. It unobtrusively brings both architectural aesthetics and sound-adsorption technology.
A new restaurant
In a large open restaurant, like this one MDC Wallcoverings worked with, conversation spillover is bound to be a problem. MDC stepped in to apply Zintra panels for noise control, and the ceiling proved to be the most appropriate spot.
For aesthetics, the textured panels are arranged in a checkerboard-like pattern. “They’re a visual piece,” LaRoche says, “but also practical. They tone down the noise.” As a result, diners can chat comfortably without needing to tune out their neighbors—all while appreciating the ceiling design above them.
For commercial designers, acoustics continue to be a priority when designing a high-traffic space. Zintra panels aim to provide comfort for occupants, while allowing designers plenty of creative freedom.
