The world's first acoustic laboratory with a noise level of -21 decibels will be completed in P

On June 6, Panyu-based company Guangzhou Soundbox Acoustic Technology Co., Ltd. held the groundbreaking ceremony for its "Acoustic Industry Base" and "World's First -21dB Acoustic Laboratory".

Xia Jian, Deputy District Head of Panyu and Director of the District Enterprise Construction Service Center, expressed high expectations for the project's future!

The base project covers a planned area of 27,592.69㎡ (including 23,302.36㎡ of constructible land and 4,290.33㎡ of road area), with a maximum permitted floor area of ≤93,209.44㎡. The total designed construction area is 105,520.23㎡ (89,765.00㎡ above ground and 15,755.23㎡ underground). Facilities will include headquarters offices, R&D centers, laboratory buildings, three factory buildings, basements, and supporting infrastructure.

Soundbox is an industry leader specializing in noise control technology and product development. Its business spans architecture, automotive, marine, high-speed rail, subway, and military sectors. As a key enterprise in Panyu with significant tax contributions, the company is investing 585 million yuan in Shilou's "Specialized and Sophisticated Industrial Zone" to build its headquarters, a national key laboratory, and manufacturing base. Upon completion, the base is expected to generate annual output exceeding 1.5 billion yuan from soundproofing products, contribute over 350 million yuan in taxes within the first decade, and create more than 1,200 jobs.

The faintest sound detectable by human ears is 0dB, while in non-vacuum environments, noise from air molecule collisions never exceeds -24dB. In this context, negative decibel (-dB) laboratories play crucial roles across multiple fields including sonar, ultrasound, infrasound, semiconductors, materials science, architecture, bioscience, biomedicine, aerospace, space communications, environmental engineering, precision instrument manufacturing, ultra-precision measurement, life sciences, and military stealth wave-absorbing materials.

Currently, only three negative decibel laboratories exist worldwide: IBM's -1dB nanotechnology lab in Zurich, Switzerland; Orfield Laboratories' -9.8dB facility in Minnesota, USA; and Microsoft's -20.6dB lab at its Redmond, Washington headquarters.

IBM Laboratory

Microsoft Laboratory

Now, Tsinghua University and Soundbox are jointly constructing the world's first -21dB laboratory 30 meters underground. This project not only fills China's gap in this field but will also provide fundamental experimental conditions for advanced research across multiple disciplines.

Professor Yan Xiang from Tsinghua University explains the value and significance of the -21dB Acoustic Laboratory project