When the first acoustic fix isn't enough

A school renovation hit a reverberation problem that ceiling baffles alone couldn't solve.

Practical learning spaces at DaCapo College, where suspended Rockfon Contour baffles bring down reverberation in a busy, hard-surfaced room.

An old building, opened up

DaCapo College in Sittard is a Dutch vocational school that took a dated building and renovated it into an open, modern learning hub. The design leans into transparency and collaboration, with a prominent glazed façade and a spacious, public-facing ground floor that invites interaction.

Interior architect Peter Littman led the interior concept, choosing natural, sustainable materials to create a calm, healthy environment. From the start, acoustics were central to that goal.

"Annoying reverberation in a classroom does not contribute to optimal concentration; it is disturbing for the ultimate learning and teaching process but not only that, also for the well-being of the student and teacher," said Littman.

In most of the building, that was a matter of specifying the right acoustic ceiling for each space. The auditorium needed more than that.

Too much reverberation in the auditorium

The auditorium was the most difficult space in the building. High ceilings and hard glass and concrete surfaces caused heavy reverberation, with sound reflecting freely across the room.

Rockfon Contour baffles were installed first, suspended from the ceiling to absorb sound. But in a space this reflective, the baffles alone didn't reduce the echo far enough. The room still had too much reverberation for a teaching space, and the ceiling treatment had reached the limit of what it could do on its own.

The team needed more absorption, without changing the look they'd designed.

Project info

Project name

DaCapo College Sittard

Location

Sittard, Netherlands

Architecture

Povse & Timmermans Architecten Ingenieurs BV

Installation

Gepla BV

Photography

Michael van Oosten

Interior Designer

Interne Zaken

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Products used

Rockfon Blanka®

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Rockfon Contour®

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The linear baffles sit cleanly within the architecture, absorbing sound without dominating the space.

Suspended Rockfon Contour baffles bring down reverberation in the open learning spaces.

Taking the absorption to the walls

The answer was to add acoustic treatment where the ceiling couldn't reach: the walls. Rockfon Blanka Activity was installed in a B-edge format designed for glueing, mounted in a close grid across the auditorium walls.

The extra wall absorption finally brought the reverberation under control, while the tight, integrated layout kept the clean look Littman had designed intact.

"The combination of both technical and aesthetic flexibility with maximum performance in both areas makes the B-edge, the use of the glue and the way of the installation a unique product to use in these situations," said Littman.

Beyond the auditorium, Rockfon stone wool ceiling tiles run throughout the school, across classrooms, music rooms, corridors and circulation areas. They add Class A1 fire safety and resistance to up to 100 percent relative humidity, so the interior stands up to the demands of a busy school over time.

In the music room, the modular Rockfon ceiling absorbs sound across a space full of instruments, already used as the full-width single.

In the busy locker and circulation area, the modular white Rockfon ceiling controls the noise of students moving between lessons.

A Rockfon ceiling runs through the hallways, keeping them calm despite the hard glass surfaces.

A building that works for teaching

DaCapo College shows that good acoustics sometimes take more than one pass. By treating the ceiling and then the walls, the team gave even the most demanding room the sound control a learning space needs, supporting concentration and wellbeing for students and teachers alike.

Also tackling a tough reverberation problem where the ceiling alone isn't enough? Get in touch, and we'll help you find the right combination of ceiling and wall treatment.