In places where large numbers of people gather, conversations and other sound sources can quickly become noise.

This is particularly true of open-plan offices, in which employee concentration can be adversely affected. REHAU develops acoustically effective products for offices as part of the Segments Acoustic Solutions programme that optimally absorb or shield against noise. They contribute positively to a comfortable and productive working environment. REHAU also participates in networks to improve its competence in the area of acoustics and bring the matter to its customers’ attention in an interesting way.

Modern office spaces need acoustically effective interiors

Around a third of a person’s life is spent at work. And yet it is precisely modern open-plan offices that produce countless sounds and sources of noise that make it hard to concentrate on the job at hand. Noise is a stress factor that should not be underestimated. It has a negative impact on psychological health and worker performance and can therefore be the cause of impaired busi-ness results. The problem of poor acoustics is exacerbated by the construction materials currently favoured by architects, such as glass, concrete and metal. These materials do not absorb noise. Carefully positioned, acoustically effective furniture can solve many problems that bedevil today’s open-plan offices.

REHAU, the polymer specialist, has produced several products as part of its Acoustic Solutions range that are both efficient and attractive solutions for the specific acoustic circumstances of office spaces, making them stress-free living spaces. Acoustic Solutions from REHAU are effec-tive primarily at close range and are often more than five times more effective than solutions that operate at a distance.

Cabinet fronts redesigned as attractive acoustic solutions

REHAU offers two office-cabinet products with the unique tambour door system RAUVOLET acoustic-line and the innovative lifting-door module RAUWORKS front. Both solutions exploit their available surfaces to efficiently deflect and absorb noise and thereby intelligently combine storage space and acoustic solutions. Moreover, their opening mechanisms require no additional space, unlike more ordinary slide doors. This means that the requirements pertaining to multi-functional furniture surfaces specified in DIN 4534 are not applicable.

Thanks to its easy and stepless height settings, the lifting-door module RAUWORKS front is particularly suited to this flexible, acoustic and visual noise shielding. RAUWORKS front thereby enables variable surface zoning in the open space.

The patented tambour door cabinet system RAUVOLET acoustic-line, already widely in use, impresses as a highly effective broadband absorber. It is the first product in its class to absorb noise across all the relevant frequency ranges in a mostly linear way.

RAUVOLET fabric-line – the new fabric tambour doors

In today’s property sector, straight lines and minimalistic interior design strongly influence how space and furniture are organised and designed. REHAU, the polymer specialist, echoes this trend with the new cabinet tambour doors RAUVOLET fabric-line. The system impresses with its smooth surfaces without slatted look. With RAUVOLET fabric-line, the tambour door carpet is covered with a noise-absorbing material. The effect is a clean surface that can be individually printed and ordered in various colours.

Flexibility with acoustically effective screen and partition systems

REHAU’s RAUWORKS is a coordinated product family of acoustically effective screen and parti-tion systems. In contrast to other models, RAUWORKS impresses in two ways: The specific design in conjunction with the system thickness of 5.5 centimetres ensures efficient noise absorption at close range, and the recommended height of 70 centimetres inhibits noise distribution to neighbours at double work stations. RAUWORKS thereby delivers better acoustic performance than thinner, smaller systems. The versatile configuration variations, the option of printing, and the individual colour choices for the replaceable fabrics make RAUWORKS the perfect system for the modern office.

REHAU developed the acoustically effective desk screen system RAUWORKS split screen specifically for use at double work stations. It impresses with its flexible shielding thanks to its individually height-adjustable dividing elements that – when lowered – enable easy communication between colleagues and – when raised – uninterrupted concentration on the task at hand.

Two further products complete the table dividing wall range from REHAU. RAUWORKS lift screen, a desk screen that is not connected to a table, can be flexibly installed and enables electric, stepless height adjustment at the push of a button. RAUWORKS fixed screen, a desk screen that is connected to a table, is the standard among dividing walls. It is especially suited to more constant acoustic circumstances, such as in call centres.

For setting up zones in open-plan offices, REHAU recommends the partition-wall system RAU-WORKS partition. Partition walls are not only flexible, they also help to improve the acoustic atmosphere at the same time. Whether alone or grouped: RAUWORKS partition creates an optimal acoustic and private sphere in every situation.

Various network activities for growing expertise

When dealing with acoustic issues, REHAU doesn’t only develop its internal expertise but also targets effective network activities. For this reason, the polymer specialist is a member of several platforms such as the pCon.planner, as well as Officebase, Forum Office Acoustics and acous-tigroup. Because of this commitment, REHAU is able to continually advance its own expertise and stay abreast of developing trends.

pCon.planner: Designing office spaces at the computer visually and acoustically

pCon.planner is a 2D/3D space planner with which professional, three-dimensional space plan-ning and photo-realistic visualisation can be created. Since the summer of 2014, REHAU has been present with its screen and partition-wall systems on this platform so that users such as office-furniture manufacturers, specialist dealers, architects, interior designers and facility man-agers can design their spaces using the flexible, acoustically effective RAUWORKS products at http://pcon-planner.com.

Officebase: the largest online industry portal for office design

Officebase is the first and only online office-furniture platform in Switzerland. It has been present in Austria and Germany since 2014 and has been used by REHAU since last autumn for listing acoustic solutions. The largest portal in the industry bundles all data on office furniture, office planning and office design. At www.officebase.info/select-version, you can find interesting infor-mation on REHAU acoustic solutions alongside countless other brands and products from all office-furniture manufacturers.

Manufacturer joint-project Forum Office Acoustics for a common goal

In January 2014, Barrisol-Normalu SAS, Carpet Concept Objekt Teppichboden GmbH, Création Baumann AG, Strähle Raum-Systeme GmbH, USM Möbelbausysteme GmbH and REHAU formed Forum Office Acoustics to work “Together for better office acoustics”. Directed by the manufacturer-independent acoustics experts Dr Christian Nocke from Akustikbüro Oldenburg and Dr Markus Meis of Hörzentrum Oldenburg GmbH, employers, facility managers, site managers and architects will have their lives made easier by the uniform approach to planning acoustically optimised office spaces. Forum Office Acoustics can be found at www.forum-office-acoustics.de.

Objective advice from the acousticgroup network

If you are involved in room acoustics, you will find acousticgroup (www.acousticgroup.com) to be a central, expert and transparent point of contact. The network, which was recently joined by REHAU at the beginning of the year, can help with objective advice thanks to its knowledgeable acoustics specialists. It also offers fully individualised and efficient solutions. Thanks to the col-laboration of manufacturers and specialist dealers, acousticgroup is able to present a broad range of acoustic products.