World's First -21dB Acoustic Laboratory to be Inaugurated in Guangzhou's Panyu District

On June 6, 2023, Guangzhou Soundbox Acoustic Technology Co., Ltd., an enterprise based in Panyu District, held the commencement ceremony for the "Acoustic Industry Base" and the "world's first -21dB Acoustic Laboratory."

The project covers a planned site area of 27,592.69 ㎡ (including 23,302.36 ㎡ of developable land and 4,290.33 ㎡ of road area), with a maximum permissible gross floor area of ≤93,209.44 ㎡. The total designed building area is 105,520.23 ㎡ (including 89,765.00 ㎡ of gross floor area and 15,755.23 ㎡ of non-gross floor area). The facilities comprise headquarters office buildings, an R&D center, a laboratory building, Plant #1, Plant #2, Plant #3, a basement, and supporting facilities.

Soundbox is a leading enterprise in the acoustics industry, specializing in the R&D and manufacturing of noise control technologies and products. Its business spans sectors such as construction, automotive, marine, high-speed rail, subway, and defense. The company is a key supported enterprise in Panyu District and a major contributor to local tax revenue. With an additional investment of 585 million RMB in the "Specialized, Sophisticated, Distinctive, and Innovative" industrial zone in Shilou, Soundbox is constructing its corporate headquarters, a national key laboratory, and a manufacturing base. Upon completion and full operation, the base is projected to achieve an annual output value of over 1.5 billion RMB from sound insulation and noise reduction products, contribute more than 350 million RMB in taxes over the first ten years, and create employment for over 1,200 people.

The faintest sound audible to the human ear is 0 dB, yet in non-vacuum environments, noise generated by collisions between air molecules does not exceed -24 dB. Against this backdrop, the existence of negative-decibel (-dB) laboratories becomes critically important. These laboratories play a key role in research across fields such as sonar, ultrasound, infrasound, semiconductors, materials science, architecture, biological sciences, biomedicine, aerospace, space communications, environmental engineering, precision instrument manufacturing, ultra-precision measurement, life and health, as well as stealth wave-absorbing materials for defense applications.

Currently, there are only three negative-decibel laboratories in the world: the IBM Nanotechnology Center -1dB Lab in Zurich, Switzerland; the Or field -9.8dB Laboratory in Minnesota, USA; and the Microsoft Headquarters -20.6dB Lab in Redmond, Washington, USA.

Today, Tsinghua University and Soundbox have commenced construction of the world's first joint laboratory located 30 meters underground, designed to achieve a background noise level of -21 dB. This project not only fills a critical gap in China's laboratory capabilities in this field but will also provide fundamental research infrastructure for in-depth studies across multiple national strategic domains.