Audio Consultancy, London
Architectural sound design
We design sound systems, acoustic strategy and integrated audio environments for hospitality, residential and cultural spaces.
Core areas of practice
Clients and collaborators
CollaboratorsBen Adams Architects · MASSLAB · Superfutures Design Studio
Loudspeaker partners1Sound · Architettura Sonora · Focal · K-array · L-Acoustics · Pequod Acoustics
Projects where the room and the system were resolved together.
Their team combines deep technical expertise with a genuine passion for delivering high-quality audio-visual solutions, and it truly shows in every detail of their work.
Loved working with Tariq. He's always gone the extra mile for us. Highly recommend.
Professional, transparent, courteous, and really crunched the job in a timely manner. The speakers sound, and look, incredible. Tariq was available throughout the install to answer any queries we had.
Reviews published on Google. Some predate the studio's current name and were left for Sonic Installations Ltd, trading as Sonic Design Studios.
How an engagement works
Most projects reach us at RIBA Stage 2 or 3. Earlier is better, later is workable.
Acoustic blueprint
Site survey, material guidance against the finishes schedule, CAD layouts, DSP signal paths and infrastructure requirements issued to the design team.
Engineered procurement
Component level specification chosen on performance and appearance, tender ready documentation, contractor coordination.
Precision commissioning
Installation oversight, room tuning and DSP alignment by measurement microphone, as built documentation and handover.
What it costs
Sound belongs in the operating strategy, designed in from the first drawing.
Sound left to chance
A room that is uncomfortable to talk in shortens visits, suppresses spend, discourages return and surfaces in the reviews that decide whether the next guest books at all.
Sound designed early
Designed early and well, sound keeps conversation easy, protects your reviews and makes the room unmistakably yours.
Completed projects typically run between £20,000 and £120,000 across design, specification, hardware and commissioning. Design and consultancy can be engaged on their own.
The evidence
Sound is part of how a room is judged.
The top restaurant complaint
Noise was the most common irritation in a survey of 13,000 US diners, ahead of poor service, high prices and parking.
Zagat Dining Trends Survey, 2018Louder rooms rate lower
A field study of 142 diners found the measured sound level in the room was a significant predictor of how they rated the restaurant overall.
Steffens, Wilczek and Weinzierl, Frontiers in Built Environment, 2021Noise changes taste
Under loud background noise, participants rated sweetness significantly lower and umami higher. The room changes how the menu tastes.
Yan and Dando, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2015Sound shapes how a room is judged, how easily people talk and even how the food tastes. That is why it should be designed, not added.
Sources are independent published research. Figures describe the studies cited and are not projections for any individual venue.
Why rooms get loud, and how they are fixed
A room is making a sound whether or not anyone designed it. Hard finishes hold energy, energy raises the noise floor, and the noise floor raises every voice in the room. By the time an operator hears the complaint, the cause is in the ceiling, the glazing and the floor, not in the sound system.
The fix is decided at drawing stage. Absorption placed against the reflected ceiling plan, materials chosen against the finishes schedule, and zoning set against how the room actually trades across a service. Specified late, the same result costs more and looks like it was added afterwards, because it was.
Ready to make audio a design feature?
Book a 30 minute audio integration review to identify early acoustic risks in your layout and explore the path to an effortless, high performance environment.
Book an Audio Strategy Review