I can't hear you!: Vorwerk SL Sonic

Open plan structures are still state-of-the-art today, especially in offices and public areas. Although we have all grown accustomed to the sounds of printers, copiers and coffee machines, the babble of voices and the ringing of telephones, we react to them subconsciously. Everyday noise gets on our nerves, whether we realise it or not.

Many of our modern offices have only a few surfaces that absorb sound or textile elements which are capable of swallowing it. Sound strikes floors and walls like a tennis ball and is thrown immediately back into the room. This results in a noise level that makes it difficult for workers to concentrate. But there is no reason to cover the walls with egg cartons. Even a carpet significantly improves room acoustics by absorbing sound more effectively than practically any other floor covering.

The efficiency of a carpet‘s sound-absorbing effect depends on various factors, such as the height of the pile or the type of backing. Vorwerk SL Sonic acoustic tiles achieve top efficiency values. These modular, interchangeable carpet tiles are perfectly adapted to the requirements of flexible room structures. In addition, an acoustic backing coat is a standard feature of all Sonic carpet tiles. This reduces impact sound by up to 35 decibels and reverberation time by as much as 40 percent as compared to hard flooring, thus setting new industry standards.

Yet another advantage of the heavy backing coat is that each 50x50-cm carpet tile weighs nearly one kilogram and thus lies flat and needn’t be glued to the floor. Thus replacing damaged tiles or making changes in colours or the overall pattern of the carpeting poses no significant problems.

Vorwerk offers a wide range of tile shapes and formats for use in creating distinctive textile floor mosaics. Four standard rectangular formats and six free forms in different colours, surface structures and pile heights are available. Vorwerk's ambitious goal is to provide architects with millions of composition options for unique floor designs.

Rooms can be given differentiated structures depending on the pattern of the floor covering. A discussion corner, for example, can be accentuated with a red, high-pile carpet that gradually transitions into the grey, general area in the pattern. In this way, areas and paths can be marked out subtly yet efficiently – without walls or signs.

Planning is carried out with the intuitive online product configurator. Does one prefer structuring squares, the organic “Flake” tile, which resembles a ginkgo leaf, or narrow, rectangular tiles in the classic herringbone pattern? In any case, the outcome is an expressive floor covering that may also exhibit a three-dimensional pattern with different pile heights.

Demand for modular carpeting forms is growing steadily. With the SL Sonic tile, Vorwerk, a company backed by 135 years of history, is responding to the changed requirements posed by the international market for floor coverings for commercial and residential buildings. The laying procedure is flexible and uncomplicated, and the carpeting is no longer delivered in long rolls, but instead in easily manageablt boxes. Product development, production and quality control are still performed at corporate headquarters in Hameln, which means that, like all Vorwerk products, the Sonic tile is “Made in Germany.”

Sustainability also has top priority at Vorwerk. Consequently, the surfaces of some Sonic tiles are produced from special yarns (ECONYL® fibres), which consist of up to 100% recycled material, such as plastic particles recovered from the sea.

Emphasis is placed on ensuring that none of the materials used in the production of the backing coat release harmful emissions into the surrounding air. Thus the products contain no bitumen or PVC, yet still offer excellent dimensional stability and the properties to which users are accustomed.

One pleasant side-effect is the fact that Vorwerk carpet tiles are completely odourless. In addition to swallowing sound, these tiles also bind fine dust in interior spaces. Fine-dust concentrations in rooms carpeted with Sonic tiles are significantly lower than those in rooms with hard flooring – and that allows even people with allergies to breathe easier.

The floor is one of the most important room elements and is always part of the overall architectural concept. Sonic carpet tiles are a genuine highlight for the eyes, but also for the ears and the respiratory system. Investing in good acoustics makes particularly good sense, as it enables us to think clearly.


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