Waves

Waves, developed by Kvadrat Acoustics in collaboration with Foster + Partners Industrial Design, is an acoustic curtain solution designed to create adaptable acoustic rooms within open-plan interiors.

The system rethinks the curtain as a flexible architectural element – capable of shaping interiors, improving acoustic comfort, and responding to changing user needs.

Highly adaptable, Waves integrates with existing architectural structures. It can be installed directly to ceilings, soffits, beams, and walls, and is available in both manual and motorised configurations, including app-based control.

By softly defining pockets of space within larger environments, the system supports a wide range of activities – from focused work meetings to informal gatherings.

The flexibility of the track enables the creation of space within a space – offering a sense of shelter while keeping users visually and spatially connected to their surroundings. Curtains mediate between public and private spaces. The softer and warmer definitions of space produce a psychological effect that creates a sense of ease and protection.

Foster + Partners Industrial Design and Kvadrat Acoustics performed acoustic studies to understand sound absorption and isolation in relation to the human voice range. Through testing different materials, the system achieves effective absorption across speech frequencies. Waves offers a sound transmission loss of 12–15 dB, significantly improving acoustic comfort and speech privacy in open environments with up to 70 % noise reduction.