Acoustic Wall Panels That Don't Look Acoustic

Every restaurant knows the moment: the fit-out is beautiful, the booking book is full, and nobody can hear the person opposite. The retrofit — foam tiles, fabric clouds — usually costs the room its looks.

NRC is the number to hold onto. It describes how much sound a surface absorbs rather than reflects: 0.0 is a mirror for sound, 1.0 is an open window. Hard minimal rooms live near zero, which is why they roar.

A perforated slat wall works because the holes let sound into a chamber and the chamber keeps it. DECORA's acoustic profiles reach NRC ≤ 0.70 while reading, from two metres, as millwork. The sound treatment disappears into the design intent — which is the only place it ever belonged.

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