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How to Make Your Home Quieter
Read Time: 5 minutes
Author. Clare Booth • Director
Author. Clare Booth • Director
Read Time: 5 minutes
•
Discover how thoughtful design can transform your home into a haven of calm — from clever layouts to sound-absorbing materials, we explore the key ways to build a quieter, more peaceful space.
In a modern world that doesn’t switch off — where phones buzz, traffic hums and adverts blare— the idea of a calm, quiet home is more appealing than ever.
While decluttering might help create the appearance of a peaceful home, true acoustic calm starts much deeper — with the way your home is designed and built.
At the forefront of quiet living is the Passivhaus [or Passive House] building standard.
Why Passivhaus Homes Are Naturally Quieter
Passivhaus was developed in Germany in the early 1990s to create buildings with ultra-low energy use and superior indoor comfort. But one of its lesser-known superpowers? Noise reduction.
The very design principles that make a Passivhaus energy-efficient also create a robust barrier against external sound. These include:
- Super-insulated walls that dampen and absorb external noise
- Airtight construction that seals every crack and crevice — not just to keep heat in, but to keep unwanted sound out
- Triple-glazed, high-performance windows. The spaces between each pane of glass are filled with Argon gas, which functions as an acoustic insulator
Lloyd Alter, writing for Treehugger, describes how acoustic engineers have tested Passivhaus walls and found they reduce external noise by around 10 decibels. That might not seem like a lot, but because the decibel scale is logarithmic, it translates to a 50% reduction in perceived sound. Imagine cutting background noise in half — day and night.
Why a Quiet Home Matters
Noise isn’t just an annoyance — it’s a health hazard. In fact, the World Health Organisation ranks environmental noise as the second biggest environmental threat to public health, after air pollution. Long-term exposure is linked to:
- Sleep disruption and insomnia
- Cardiovascular disease
- Elevated stress and anxiety
- Tinnitus and noise sensitivity
- Type 2 diabetes
- Poor memory, focus, and productivity
- Childhood learning delays
Creating a quieter home improves emotional regulation, mental clarity, and overall wellbeing. In short: quiet doesn’t just sound good — it’s good for you.
Coldwells Build Passivhaus | The McKinley | Snug
How to Design and Build a Quieter Home
Creating a truly peaceful home begins at the design stage. By planning carefully and making thoughtful decisions about your layout and materials, you can significantly reduce noise.
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01. Strategic Layout
Place bedrooms and living spaces away from roads or other noise sources. A well-planned layout is your first line of defence against external sound.
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02. High-performance sound insulation
At Coldwells Build, we use 420mm of tightly packed, recyclable stone wool in our Passivhaus homes — far exceeding the insulation quantities in standard new builds. This high-spec insulation:
- Blocks external noise from roads, rain and air traffic.
- Reduces internal sound transfer between floors and rooms.
- Improves room acoustics by absorbing sound waves, it cuts down on echo and reverberation.
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03. Triple Glazing
Triple-glazed windows offer more than thermal performance — they’re also brilliant at reducing sound transmission. A must-have if your plot is near traffic or urban areas. At Coldwells Build, all of our Passivhaus homes are fitted with high-performance triple-glazed windows as standard.
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04. Airtight Construction & Mechanical Ventilation
A tightly sealed home keeps unwanted sound out. Combine this with a Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery [MVHR] system, and you get quiet, filtered fresh air all day long — no need to crack open a window on a noisy street. These systems are whisper-quiet and designed to meet strict noise standards.
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05. Rethink Open Plan
Open-plan living has its perks: space, light, flow. But it also comes with acoustic trade-offs. If you’re cooking while someone’s watching TV — or vice versa — sounds can clash.
That’s why the Coldwells Build Passivhaus range features flexible layouts that can be adapted with permanent partitions. These smart separations help improve acoustic comfort where it counts.
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06. Add a Utility Room
Not only does a separate utility space add value, but it also keeps noisy appliances out of your main living areas. Washing machines and dryers are best tucked away to preserve your peace.
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07. Include a Snug
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08. Green Noise Barriers
A well-placed hedge or dense planting isn’t just great for privacy — it also acts as a natural acoustic shield. It helps block traffic noise and filters air pollution too, making your outdoor space more enjoyable year-round.
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09. Choose Quiet Appliances
Quiet Mark is on a mission to make our homes calmer. Its purple logo marks the quietest appliances on the market — from kettles to washing machines. These products are independently tested and proven to reduce household noise.
Author.
Clare Booth
• Director
A trained communicator, Clare co-founded Coldwells Build with the aim of improving consumer experience within the construction process. Working previously as a television director and journalist, she understands more than most, about the power of detail, organisation and timing.
