What, in your opinion, is the importance of room acoustics today, and what changes have you seen over the past five years? What changes do you expect over the next five years?
The importance of room acoustics has been growing for quite some time now, particularly over the past five to ten years. It is clear that the issue of noise and its negative impact have become increasingly important for the population as a whole, and I expect this trend to continue in the years to come, as room acoustics, particularly in the office, but in the private sphere as well, will be seen as an important factor for the comfort of a room. It appears that room acoustics are becoming more firmly anchored in the planning process, and thus recognised as an important factor for rooms.

How have requirements for room acoustics in modern offices changed?

From what I have seen, the requirements for room acoustics have not been subject to major changes. Overall, new forms of work and organisation have become evident in recent years that have made it necessary to adapt room acoustic requirements in some areas, such as for communication-intensive utilisations. When evaluating room acoustics, an important factor to remember for today’s construction methods is the fact that the reliance on open structures means that few sound-absorbing surfaces are utilised. As a result, extremely poor room acoustic conditions occur more frequently, and this can quickly lead to complaints.

At first, it was the attraction of doing something new that drove me to work with Ruckstuhl. From a purely technical acoustics standpoint, I found it somewhat surprising that a manufacturer of floor coverings was looking to enter into new fields of room design with Pannello. Another important factor for this development collaboration was the fact that not only acoustic quality, but also other aspects such as design and sustainability played an important role. I’m certain that ‘only’ developing a sound absorber would not have been a particularly attractive proposition. From an acoustic standpoint, I was driven to develop a highly effective sound absorber that would also boast numerous other properties.

In addition to the professional office environment, I can see it being used in residential applications, as well as for highly specialised uses such as equipping studio and control rooms, be it in private recording studios or small cinemas, as these applications all benefit from highly effective sound absorbers. As a result of the very good sound absorption values, the Pannello collection delivers highly efficient sound absorption to any rooms that need it.

The Pannello collection is distinguished by its combination of outstanding acoustic effectiveness, exquisite design and flexible, wide-ranging scope of application. In my opinion, there are few products that are able to combine these qualities like the Pannello collection does.

A frequent error in construction processes, regardless of whether new buildings or renovations are at issue, is the fact that the field of room acoustics is shut out of the planning process. As a result, the acoustic properties of a room are left to chance. In addition, the importance of room acoustics for the subsequent use of the room is often underestimated. If other areas, such as structure and colour, were left to chance in the same manner, many buildings would simply be unfit for use.

Numerous technical construction developments, including concrete core activation and the use of glass for a large proportion of the structure, result in unfavourable room acoustic characteristics in the rooms. In addition, design aspects, such as the desire for homogenous and smooth surfaces, have yet to be given a great deal of weight among the manufacturers of acoustic products.

From what I have seen, the market for acoustic products is currently undergoing a major transformation. Traditional acoustic products such as grid ceilings and spray plasters are also changing or disappearing from the market. The products in high demand are those that are able to perform a number of functions at once, such as heating, cooling and sound absorption, or even bulletin boards and sound absorption.  I believe that the future will see a growing demand for cleverly designed and efficient acoustic solutions.

In our experience these things are often seen as interchangeable.

It is true that numerous rumours and half-truths regarding the field of acoustics are quite prevalent, and the only way to deal with this is to provide a well-founded explanation of the subject so that discussions can take place on a factual basis. A room that is subject to reverberation will not be improved acoustically by upgrading the sound insulation of the walls, nor is it possible to compensate for the insufficient sound insulation of a wall by using sound absorption to regulate the reverberation in the room. The fields of room acoustics and soundproofing / building acoustics can be clearly distinguished from one another. The confusion of these two subdisciplines of acoustics can probably only be remedied through education and by repeatedly highlighting the differences between them.

Poor room acoustic conditions in the office can sometimes have dramatic consequences. Performance is generally reduced, employee satisfaction lowered and sick days increased.  In some circumstances, poor room acoustics are not recognised as the cause, and solutions are wrongly sought in other areas. It is therefore necessary in offices in particular to create a high level of room acoustic comfort, as this is the only way to maintain and promote performance that lives up to its potential over the long term.

I have been working with Ruckstuhl for quite a few years now, and it is a relationship that has been made special by its openness and reliability. In addition to personal contact with many employees, I particularly like the fact that there is always an interest in new ideas, something that also gives rise to products whose fascination goes beyond the field of acoustics.

The interview with Dr. Christian Nocke was conducted by M. Groth.