Project Challenge

This 180㎡ premium boutique Pilates and barre studio in Los Angeles features floor-to-ceiling mirrors, polished concrete floors and high ceilings. During group classes, overlapping instructor cues, background music and reformer equipment noise create muddy sound quality, reducing class immersion and increasing vocal fatigue for instructors. Members also complained that instructions were hard to follow from the back of the room. The studio brand positions itself as a luxury wellness experience, so any acoustic solution had to maintain a clean, calm, high-end interior aesthetic.

Solution

High-density fiberglass core fabric wrapped acoustic panels were installed on all non-mirrored walls and ceiling perimeter zones, with an NRC rating of 0.85–1.0. The panels eliminate flutter echo between hard mirrored and wall surfaces, improve speech clarity for instructor cues, and reduce overall ambient reverberation. A soft neutral matte fabric finish was selected to match the studio’s calm wellness aesthetic, with custom sized panels fitted around wall fixtures and lighting to create a seamless built-in look.

All materials carry ASTM E84 Class A fire certification and use low-VOC adhesives suitable for enclosed wellness spaces. Installation was completed overnight over 6 days so classes could run on normal schedule.

Project Results

Instructor voice clarity improved significantly across all positions in the room, and instructor end-of-day vocal fatigue was reduced by an estimated 40%. Class immersion scores from member surveys rose by 31%, and the clean seamless panel finish was repeatedly praised as contributing to the studio’s calm, premium atmosphere.