Meeting room with a (lot of) noise

Today, I had to give a presentation in the Communication Loft, a meeting venue that offers meeting rooms and conference facilities. The event room overlooks a major road – the R4 ring road along the Ringvaart, which circles a part of the city of Ghent in Flanders (Belgium, Europe). It’s actually a nice venue with a modern look & feel. The only major downside is the proximity of the road. All day long, cars and trucks are passing by just a couple of meters away. That creates a permanent and loud background noise in the room. We were wearing a headset, so our voices were amplified in order for all the participants clearly hear us – and to prevent our throats to hurt. Answering questions is a bit more difficult though. When people in the audience do not raise their voice, it can be pretty hard to really understand them. And of course, the noise distracts the participants, and reduces their concentration. I wonder what one could ever do to get rid of the hindering noise. The cars and trucks are a given, so the only thing one could do is to strip the building and put new windows in. Such a pity