This 280㎡ neighborhood bookstore with an in-house coffee bar sits on a pedestrian street in central Copenhagen. Built with exposed ceiling joists, solid oak floors and original brick walls, it has the warm historic aesthetic customers love — but hard reflective surfaces create noticeable reverberation during weekend peaks. Page turns, quiet chatter, espresso machine hum and background music stack quickly. Staff struggle to hear book recommendations, and patrons find themselves raising their voices just to hold a short conversation. The owner wanted a sound solution that would preserve the store’s raw, literary atmosphere, not look like generic industrial acoustic treatment.

We centered the solution around cement-bonded wood wool acoustic ceiling panels across the main reading area and coffee zone, with an NRC rating of 0.80–0.90. The natural textured fibre-cement finish needs no extra paint, blending straight into the store’s exposed joist and brick interior while soaking up scattered reflected sound in the high-ceilinged space.

Behind reading nooks, we added E0-grade formaldehyde-free polyester fiber acoustic panels in warm paper tones (NRC 0.85–0.95), CNC precision-cut to line up with the store’s built-in bookshelf details so they read as part of the interior, not an add-on.

All panels carry EN 13501 Class A fire certification, fully compliant with EU commercial building rules. Installation was completed after hours so there was zero disruption to daily trading.

Peak-hour ambient noise in the reading area dropped by an estimated 38%. Customers can hold quiet conversations at normal volume even when the store is full, and average dwell time is up 24%. The textured wood wool ceiling actually enhances the space’s warm, inviting feel — no one notices it as functional acoustic treatment.