Vancouver, BC (May 21, 2018)—Sandhill Winery recently augmented the acoustics in its reverberant wine “viewing room” with the addition of Primacoustic Paintables acoustic panels
Sandhill Winery estate manager Patricia Leslie explains, “The winery was formerly a cellar storage area for Calona Wines, so it was built to reflect industrial finishings such as concrete floors, glass walls, and metal posts. The cellar space was transformed into an Urban Winery for the Sandhill Wines brand in 2014 [and] had very poor acoustics since it had all solid surfaces, so when people were chatting, the sound echoed and guests could not hear what the presenter doing a wine tasting was saying.”
Winemaker Howard Soon tracked down Chad Johnson of AVcom Technical in Kelowna to discuss what could be done to tame the room. As Johnson recalled, “Mr. Soon’s main concern was how the acoustics of their new winery were impacting their guests’ experiences. The main factors for us to consider in this project were, respecting the strong brand image of the company and the stunning aesthetic of the overall venue.”
Johnson chose the Primacoustic Paintables line of acoustic panels since high-resolution images could be printed directly on the panels: “Solid coloured panels wrapped in fabric just wouldn’t have looked right on the feature wood wall. That’s when we got the idea to space the panels out into a large 16:9 layout and put a picture on them that turned them into their own piece of art.”
The image used in the hexaptych is of the King Family vineyard on the Naramata Bench (one of six of the Sandhill vineyards). Estate Manager Patricia Leslie had taken the photo with her mobile phone while out on a bike ride and was especially pleased with the result: “It’s a great product combining a sound-softening panel and a beautiful graphic ..it’s practical art!”
With the tasting room complete and the mission a success, it is anticipated this will lead to further treatment of the various spaces in winery.
Primacoustic • www.primacoustic.com
