This bank holiday weekend, we were proud to be part of Grand Designs Live 2026.
Our Principal Consultant Grant Lewis Waters joined Quiet Mark‘s Poppy Szkiler, interior designer Briony Ace, and renovation specialist Kate Sandhu, on the Home and Garden stage for a three-day clinic series on creating quieter, calmer homes – and the response from visitors was incredible.
At the event, Quiet Mark launched their brand new campaign, unveiling a promotional film featuring our very own Eduardo Manzano Fontecha Manzano as the lead technical expert – showcasing acoustic testing and the science behind quieter product choices, screened in a bespoke cinema at the heart of the conference.
Over three days, Grant explored a different angle on quiet living with the audience:
๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐ โ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ง๐
How acoustic comfort is becoming central to how we think about home design, and what that means for self-builders and renovators alike.
๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐จ โ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐
Practical noise reduction know-how, from types of glazing, secondary glazing and extract fan choices to the surprising psychological benefits of greenery for managing external noise.
๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ก๐ซ๐๐ โ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ
Tackling real-world challenges including impact sound, building orientation, ventilation strategy, and designing out noise on international new-build projects.
Each session opened the floor to the audience and the questions were brilliant. Noisy neighbours, airborne sound from a piano in a ground floor flat, hearing a toilet through the ceiling, noise from a school near a new build in Malaysia. Every person has their own noise challenge, and that’s exactly the point.
The take home message was that you have the power to shape the sound of your home. Whether you’re at the earliest design stage or dealing with an existing noise issue, acoustic thinking doesn’t have to be an afterthought.
Thank you to Quiet Mark and the Grand Designs Live team for having us, and to the thousands of visitors who brought such thoughtful, real-world questions to the stage.
