Texaa® designing silence
Textile I Acoustics I Architecture
Texaa® is an independent company with fifty-five staff members dedicated to designing, manufacturing and distributing acoustic solutions for the places in which we live and work. Our products are produced near Bordeaux, where we follow them every step of the way, from knitting machine to final assembly.
A quarter of our production is exported overseas, to a wide variety of countries.
Across France and in Frankfurt and London, qualified project managers offer their in-depth specialist knowledge of our products, of how they are manufactured and how they may be used in situ. They accompany individual projects, from the design table to the building site.
All Texaa® products are highly durable. They are hardwearing and enjoy a 10-year guarantee. Our panels and objects may be repaired and returned to use.
Textile
It is not by chance that our company name - Texaa - begins with the first syllable of the word textile – and one very special textile is our token of excellence, our most precious attribute and historical raison d’être. That textile is Aeria, our much prized raw material, available in a range of 22 colours and used to manufacture the hallmark covers which appear on all our products.
Our workshops in Gradignan, in the Gironde, are equipped with three knitting machines on which we produce this exclusively patented fabric. Its highly perfected knit, designed to be absolutely sound transparent, is the cornerstone of our expertise.
Aeria is rub resistant, tear resistant and does not fray. It is sized with a water-repellent coating which makes it extremely dirt repellent and easy to clean. It is also highly flame resistant and non-dripping in case of fire. It is the only textile for use in interiors which is both flame resistant and dirt repellent.
The highly characteristic texture of Aeria, full of personality at close distance, but gradually more subtle as one moves away, is the result of years of patient experimentation, both technical and aesthetic. The ‘round’ knit has evolved down the years, for use in combination with sound absorbing foams or wadding. And the process is still ongoing, involving constant analysis and research, however seemingly slight, but resulting in important innovations such as the ‘rice grain’ or ‘large round’ knit used in our newly developed products.
Our sound transparent textile, with an exclusive Texaa patent.
Acoustics
It is something we have all experienced – you start off with an empty living space, and it is horribly echoey, and then as you begin to live within it, and you move in your furniture, curtains and family members, the space gradually becomes more comfortable, cosy and relaxing…
Sound insulation or absorption?
When a sound wave comes into contact with a surface, part of its energy travels through the material, while the rest is either reflected away or absorbed. Sound insulation means protecting oneself from outside noise, and therefore aims to reduce the amount of sound travelling through the walls around us. Sound absorption, on the other hand, aims to increase the amount of energy absorbed, as a means of reducing the level of reverberation. The latter is the term used to describe the manner in which a sound continues, even after the source producing it has ceased, because of the build-up of a large numbers of reflections.
Texaa products and materials absorb sound waves and decrease the reverberation time of the spaces in which they are used, thereby greatly improving the clarity of intentional sounds, be they speech or music. That goes for wherever one stands or sits within that space, and without damaging the décor.
Traditionally, our sound absorbing materials were stretched across walls and ceilings, but Texaa has also designed a full range of highly absorbent acoustic objects which may be distributed within a given space. As a means of better appraising their acoustic performance, we have our own laboratory in which we test our designs against the stringent criteria of ISO 354.
Test reports available on request for each individual implementation.
Architecture
At Texaa® we have established close working partnerships with architects, interior designers, acousticians and fitters over the last 30 years. This has been a fertile stimulant for product research and development, as we have sought to perfect acoustic solutions to meet demands for sound comfort in architectural design.
