During the last edition, the acoustics product group featured strongly for the first time at trade event InCoDa. One of the new participants within this segment was Tacito visual and acoustic comfort who inspired the retailers and interior design professionals of the Benelux with a great presentation on beautiful design acoustic solutions. After a fine success, they will return in September 2023 with their second participation. Team InCoDa interviewed Tacito’s owner Gerhard Veldhuizen about Tacito’s acoustic solutions, their success, innovations and how they apply sustainability.
Find out more about Tacito’s acoustic solutions or contact them directly via their online company profile.
For those who may have missed Tacito's presentation, what were the highlights and may new products have already been introduced?
For us, InCoDa 2022 was a completely new experience that turned out very surprisingly for us. We have been able to do good business mostly through new dealers around the country since the fair. And we still receive requests for a dealership every week! We now also have a sales agent for the Netherlands who, in addition to 2 sustainable design brands in furniture, also surprises his existing network for Tacito with our sustainable and acoustic solutions.
One of our eye-catchers in the stand and our best-selling product since InCoDa is the “Slatted wall” which consists entirely of PET felt and therefore has no wooden elements.
This has several advantages for retailers and interior design professionals. The product has the beautiful look of a woodwall, but also contains optimal sound absorption due to the double layer of acoustic felt. We mimic the wood grain by printing a wood grain on it if required.
This is something a wooden woodwall does not have, as wood does nothing for acoustics. Another added advantage is that you no longer need a saw for cutting to size for e.g. sockets or light switches when installing. Of course, PET felt is also half as light as a wooden panel and is fully recyclable. Last month (January 2023), we also introduced panels up to 3 metres, so the product can be installed wall-filling immediately. We are currently working on a new collection in this category, which is in development for September 2023.
We presented a number of products from our product groups at InCoDa, such as: PET felt on the wall, PET-vilt aan het plafond, Scheidingswanden, Foto op PET-vilt, Specials zoals akoestische plantenbakken en de hele platen 9mm PET-vilt.
There is a variety of options to choose from in each product group. Because we stock the raw sheets of PET felt in 36 colours, we produce every order as it comes in with a short delivery time of about 10 working days. Our experience now is that there is also a need for customisation and this is our strength by making it in-house and we can therefore offer customised solutions.
Pictured: PET felt on the wall, Hexagon pattern to your own colour composition.
How important is circularity for you?
This is certainly an important aspect for us. For instance, the PET felt we buy is made of recycled polyester fibres and is also recyclable itself. This makes PET felt a sustainable solution for any interior in our eyes. This is the main reason why we started working with this material, as sustainability is certainly important to us.
We are also applying this as an organisation. We do not work with gas, but with sustainable heat pumps and are installing solar panels. Finally, of course, all leftover PET felt is recycled again for (re)use.
In addition, Tacito's acoustic and sustainable walls also came to the fore at InCoDa's first interior festival on the upper floor. Can you tell us more about this product?
At InCoDa’s interior design festival, the various sustainable solutions for wall acoustics were highlighted. From the V-tile and Hexagon on a wall to the tegelpatroon and customised solution. This allowed all visitors to experience how PET felt absorbs sound due to the structure of the material. Thus reducing reverberation in a room. Moreover, it was easy to see, for example with our logo, that the material is easy to work with and how it can smooth out possible unevenness on walls, for example.
Thanks to the machinery we have in-house and our own design department, the most creative ideas can be made from PET felt. Whether it is a living room, waiting room, office environment or catering establishment, with PET felt you can style any interior and reduce annoying noise!
Which Tacito acoustic solution is the most innovative for the project market?
Still the Slatted Wall, I think. By printing the wood grain, you get the optimal acoustic benefit compared to a wooden slatted wall. Moreover, making a room more homely is something that appeals and you create that by applying these slatted walls, for example. In addition to our wood colours, we have a very extensive palette of 36 colours. So if you want a blue slatted wall, for example, no problem.
Why is the topic of acoustics increasingly important in homes and therefore also for retailers?
Hard floors, steel window frames and steel doors are all the rage, allowing reverberation/reflection of sound to do its work. For larger spaces, such as office environments, too much sound has been shown to distract from work, making concentration more difficult. Ultimately, this too much sound can affect productivity. Which, of course, can also happen in a ‘home office’.
Which project do you look back on most proudly?
Our project at a comprehensive school where we used PET felt to (re)style the entire school. This was a project from idea/design to realisation and assembly. It included room signs with printed text on PET felt and signage throughout the school. In addition, whole walls that were clad in the auditorium with an applied 3D effect and the walls of the sports hall, choosing to sporting figures cut out.
For the auditorium, a two-layer PET felt on the wall with a 3D fingerprint which stood for the meaning that every student is unique. In this way, Tacito’s creative team helped the client with the desire to translate this into this form in the design.
Find out more about Tacito’s acoustic solutions or contact them via their online company profile.
