Design Centre Stories

Soften the Sound

Rubelli is known for its innovation – and that includes seizing opportunities to move into entirely new product categories in response to demand. Most recently it has worked with Milanese acoustic-panel specialist Slalom to come up with its own sound-absorbing panels, made from a selection of its fabrics.

“If you don’t have good acoustics, a room is not comfortable. So why not make it comfortable?” said CEO Nicolò Favaretto Rubelli, introducing this new direction at Focus/21. “It’s not that easy to find a good upholsterer to do walls,” he continued. “So we decided to create panels that can ‘dress’ a wall.”

Aimed at both residential and commercial use, the two designs are a perfect marriage of aesthetics and performance. Cloud Acoustic features broad parallel channels in high relief, which can run horizontally or vertically (or both, when tessellated together); Wave Acoustic has a more softly undulating surface, and is available in larger sizes including pre-cut custom sizes.

A lightweight foam structure (75% of the material used is recycled) means that they can be held in place with velcro tape. This makes them easily removable, too, so you can take them with you to a new property, unlike a traditional upholstered wall. Rubelli has selected four plain and four decorative fabrics to straddle most styles of interior, from ‘Ruskin’, an opulent crepe damask inspired by a Renaissance fabric from its archive, to ‘Velvetforty’, a flame-retardant velvet available in 40 colours.

Rubelli, Ground Floor, Design Centre East

 

 

 

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