Newlands Primary School Acoustic Panels

The Challenge

After SoundFix Acoustics completed an acoustic upgrade at Newlands Primary School in 2025, Principal Luke and the school engaged our team again in 2026 to improve another section of the school’s learning environment. For a school, that difference matters. Learning depends on communication, and communication depends on students being able to clearly hear what is being said. When a teacher speaks, their voice does not travel only to the students. Sound also reaches hard surfaces such as ceilings, walls, windows and floors. Instead of being absorbed, part of that sound reflects back into the room. When those reflections remain in the space for too long, they create reverberation. New words begin while the sound of previous words is still decaying, reducing speech clarity and adding to the overall acoustic activity of the classroom. This is why the problem is not necessarily that students are “too loud”. The physical characteristics of the room can amplify the effect of everyday classroom activity. For schools experiencing similar issues, our guide to acoustic panels in classrooms explains how excessive reverberation can affect the acoustic conditions of learning environments.

The Solution

SoundFix designed an acoustic treatment incorporating ceiling and wall acoustic panels. Instead of trying to block sound from travelling between rooms, the panels were installed to absorb sound energy reflecting within the space. That distinction is important. Acoustic treatment and soundproofing solve different problems. Soundproofing is concerned with reducing sound transmission from one space to another. Acoustic treatment addresses what happens inside the room, particularly echo, reverberation and speech clarity. SoundFix explains the distinction further in its acoustic treatment vs soundproofing guide. Using both ceiling and wall surfaces gave the treatment access to substantial reflective areas while allowing the solution to work within the existing classroom environment. Schools rarely have wall space to spare. Pinboard acoustic panels combine sound absorption with a practical classroom surface, allowing the treatment to become part of the functional interior.

SoundFix’s acoustic ceiling panels are specifically designed to absorb reflected sound and reduce echo, while wall treatment can complement ceiling coverage where additional absorption is required. For Newlands Primary School, the approach was not simply to install panels. It was to create an acoustic environment that could be measured before and after treatment.

The Installation

The Newlands project demonstrates an important part of the SoundFix process: acoustic performance should not be based on guesswork.

The room was assessed and measured before installation, establishing the existing reverberation characteristics across multiple frequency bands. SoundFix then installed the planned acoustic ceiling and wall treatment. Once installation was complete, the room was measured again.

This gives the school something far more useful than a subjective promise that the room will “sound better”. It creates a direct before-and-after comparison showing what the acoustic treatment actually achieved. It is also one of the reasons the Newlands relationship is significant.

This was not the school’s first experience with SoundFix. Following the first stage of acoustic improvements in 2025, Principal Luke engaged SoundFix again for a second project in 2026. That continuity allowed the school to progressively improve its learning environments rather than approaching acoustics as a one-off product purchase. SoundFix works with education facilities through the complete process of identifying the acoustic problem, planning the treatment, supplying and installing the panels, and measuring the finished environment. More examples of our work with schools can be found in our education acoustic solutions and project portfolio.

The Outcome:

Before installation, the measured reverberation time was:

1.14 seconds

After the acoustic ceiling and wall panels were installed:

0.32 seconds

That represents an approximate 72% reduction in measured reverberation time. The change is also visible across the individual frequency bands. At 500 Hz, for example, the average measurement reduced from 1.21 seconds to 0.35 seconds. At 1 kHz, it reduced from 1.06 seconds to 0.28 seconds. These numbers turn an otherwise invisible improvement into measurable evidence.

And that is especially valuable in education. The purpose of improving classroom acoustics is not simply to create a “quieter” room. It is to control the persistence of reflected sound so that speech can be heard more clearly and the room can better support teaching, discussion and everyday communication. For Newlands Primary School, the second project demonstrates both the scale of the measurable acoustic improvement and the value of an ongoing approach to improving learning spaces.

Acoustic Solutions to Your Classroom

Teachers should be able to speak naturally. Students should be able to listen without unnecessary acoustic interference. Questions and discussions should be easier to follow, whether a child is sitting at the front or further across the room. SoundFix’s education work focuses on the room itself: identifying excessive reverberation and using strategically placed sound-absorbing treatments to improve the acoustic environment. The company’s existing education resources similarly identify speech clarity and reverberation as key considerations in classrooms and other learning spaces.

The Newlands Primary School project is particularly meaningful because it was not the end of a single installation. The school experienced the first SoundFix upgrade in 2025, saw the value of improving its acoustic environment and chose to continue the program in another area in 2026.

That repeat engagement, combined with a measured reduction from 1.14 seconds to 0.32 seconds, is powerful evidence of what considered acoustic treatment can achieve.