Interioor

"A landmark study published in 1975 found that the reading scores of sixth graders whose classroom faced a clattering subway track lagged nearly a year behind those of students in quieter classrooms—a difference that disappeared once soundproofing materials were installed."
from: 'The end of silence' in The Atlantic

Poor acoustics in classrooms not only have a negative impact on children's concentration, learning and performance, according to various studies, but also cause voice problems, fatigue and reduce well-being among teachers.

With Interioor, aifoon is setting up a project on listening to and improving acoustics in classrooms of educational and care institutions. Acoustic attention and adjustments not only increase intelligibility, but also the general well-being and productivity.

We are often very concerned about what our rooms should look like, but we hardly ever think about what we want a room to sound like. While the acoustics of a room are very important and there are many possibilities to work with them, even on a small scale.

As a teacher, how can you deal with acoustics together with your pupils ?
Download our Interioor work and inspiration file and get started! (in Dutch)

With Interioor we want to stimulate people to approach and adapt the acoustic comfort within their (learning) environment in a personal way. That's why we developed a tool that enables a class or group to :

(1) listen to their classroom acoustically themselves
(2) 'tune' and adapt their own classroom.

For this, we worked together with an architect, a sound designer and an acoustic specialist.

Teaser

The video below from The_Faber (FandF entertainment) shows how sound absorbing panels can significantly influence the acoustics of a room. The walls of this studio were covered in 4 phases with 36m2 of panels for a total budget of about 500 euros. So even small interventions can make a big difference!

Design for impact

Interioor was further developed in collaboration with the students of the program Design For Impact department of LUCA School of Arts. They want to use creative design to achieve social change.

Credits

think tank Interioor

  • Leslie Burm (architect)
  • Sigert De Jean (acoustical expert)
  • Thomas Vertongen (sound designer)

outside eyes/ears

  • Lode Godderis (Professor Environment and Health KU Leuven)
  • Timothy Van Renterghem (Professor of Acoustics UGent)