Advice on Use of Bulk Acoustic Panels

[SteveL]

The removalist truck arrived today with around 16 cubic metres of acoustic panels which I managed to pick up for the princely sum of $100 total. I've just gone through it all and listed below what the hoard comprises. I'm shortly hoping to start a simple two room private studio build here on our rural property, and thought I should ask how others suggest the panels be incorporated into a new build so I can design the walls/ceiling etc to make the most use of these panels since they basically cost me nothing.

All measurements are W x H x D

25 x tall panels 55cm x 1.62m x 22cm (all with plywood backing and filled with yellow insulation beneath what looks like flyscreen, many also with plastic film over the flyscreen)
20 x tall panels 55cm x 1.62m x 11cm (same as above re the fill and screen)
16 x square panels 55cm x 55cm x 22cm (same re fill and screen)
5 x square panels 55cm x 55cm x 11cm
40 x square panels 60cm x 60cm x 3cm with perforated plywood backing and fabric covering
85 x square panels 60cm x 60cm x 3cm no backing but with 2" yellow insulation beneath fabric covering
25 x tall panels 60cm x 1.7m x 3cm most with perforated plywood backing beneath fabric

I've attached a few shots of the panels below.

As many of the larger panels are built to 55cm widths, my thinking is to simply build inside out walls that will accommodate the 55cm panels between studs. I'm sure there are way to many for my modest needs but if I can make use of them the most practical way it will save me plenty of dollars and hopefully there will be leftovers to pass onto other forum members, Any advice greatly appreciated.

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Steve Lindsay

[Chinagraf]

Steve are you using a builder? I'm assuming you will need permits? Anything down here over 10m2 floor area does.
Most stud walls are 600mm centres for single story, this won't leave you much clearance - 25mm either side of the 550mm units. Probably wouldn't do building code wise. I think the minimum width for a stud would be 70mm but if going higher than 2.7m you'd probably need to use 90mm framing timber which would throw your centres out to 640mm. Could also cause a lot of waste in cosntruction as most stuff is standardized to 600/1200/2400mm lengths.
A builder familiar with the codes in NSW (which I'm not) would have some ideas of how to fit them in the best/most economical way. It might work out better to build actual walls then fit or hang the bigger panels on the walls.

[SteveL]

Thanks Andy, yes I do have a local builder I'll be using. Funny thing was, he was up here last night going over details with me, but all these panels just arrived today, so I'll get him back up here and show them to him and see what can be incorporated. I'm looking to go to 2.8m internally.

Our plan is to build using the mass/air/mass approach (16mm gyprock on stud/airgap/stud/more 16mm gyprock, but as the property is so quiet here, I dont need to go wildly overboard on sound isolation. My thoughts had been just to use lots of these panels on the walls/ceilings as absorption, but will check to see what can be inbuilt with the builder.

Cheers

Steve

[Chinagraf]

I think something worth considering is if you have the shell and then plan to lay the panels inside that shell it gives you leeway to experiment with positioning as opposed to being tied into a setup where the panels are inbuilt.
Just make the room 22cm bigger on each wall.
They are nice looking panels.

[SteveL]

Yes, that is worth considering Andy. We're not limited by space considerations (300 or so acres) so really can tailor the size to suit. The panels all came from ABC Radio Highbury Rd Victoria which was stripped out over 10 years ago, so they put some good old tax-payer funds into the panels - I'm thinking of it as an unexpected tax return!

Steve