Archive for the ‘Projects’ Category

Restaurants have a sound opportunity

We are often asked to help find ways to improve acoustics and reduce crowd noise in restaurants, but when it comes to implementing them the disruption can be hard for an operator to accommodate. Even simple changes to ceiling finishes can mean a day or more of lost dining room revenue, in a business already on thin margins typical for NYC and other expensive places.

During COVID, we noticed that the restaurants that were fortunate enough to be breaking even with delivery and outdoor dining found themselves with once-busy dining rooms that were largely going unused. It’s a perfect opportunity to make what might have otherwise been disruptive changes to an interior, in anticipation of packed crowds returning once again. Carefully analyzed and thoughtfully implemented, good restaurant acoustics can allow diners to converse in a lively environment, without subjecting them to either an ear-splitting racket or an overly-deadened hush.

STEM Blossoms

It has been a great year for the Hajjar STEM Center at Dwight-Englewood School in New Jersey, a project we recently completed with Gensler—it has been featured in Fast Company, CNNArchitect Magazine, and Business Insider, and was just announced as a 2016 Award of Merit winner by the AIA’s Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE).  The building’s open and flexible learning environment encourages collaboration and experimentation, with acoustical treatments targeting clear communication and sound separation.

Spotify spotted

Spotify’s 54,000 square foot expansion to their Flatiron office was recently featured in Contract Magazine. Continuing our long collaboration with Spotify and TPG Architecture, we strove to meet the client’s acoustical performance needs within the highly-customized, uniquely-curated aesthetic design. Filled with one-of-a-kind art and furniture and avoiding the typical “design tropes of startups and tech firms”, the open squad-based workspace also includes a cafe, lounge, library, wellness rooms, and a fabrication workshop.

Did you hear about LREI?

We had the pleasure of working with ABA Studio on the expansion and renovation of the Little Red Elisabeth Irwin  High School, which is featured on the cover of Contract Magazine!   A truly interesting project that added new collaborative education and active learning spaces and created a sense of community with new public spaces…Congratulations to ABA and the LREI team for job well done!

LREI

sketch by Karl Jensen / ABA Studio

Insight on Insight

Featured in the September 2015 issue of Interior Design is our project for Insight Venture Partners with Smith Maran Architecture.  This 32,000 square foot corporate interior in the Grace Building combines “the seriousness of finance” with a “downtown groove”, while paying homage to the building’s famous convex white travertine facade.  Acoustic privacy and sound quality were paramount given the sensitivity of venture capital negotiation, and the project included fitness and game room areas requiring unique acoustic treatments.

The Institute takes the floor

The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate was dedicated this week at a ceremony attended by the President, Vice President, the Kennedy family, and former colleagues of the Senator, with coverage on Meet the Press and the New York Times. The Institute is adjacent to the JFK Library on the University of Massachusetts Boston campus and includes classrooms, exhibit space, and a full size replica of the United States Senate chamber. Working with Rafael Viñoly Architects, we helped the building architectural and mechanical designs achieve acoustic environments conducive to speech intelligibility, learning, productivity, and reflection.  The Institute opens to the public on March 31, 2015—see you there!