This Acoustic Panel is Made with Materials You’d Find on a Walk in the Woods
Swedish brand Baux explores biomimicry with a zero-waste sound-absorbing product
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In 2014, the designers behind Swedish studio Form Us With Love co-founded Baux, a company specializing in sustainable building products – namely wood-wool acoustic panels in eye-catching shapes and shades. Their modular product paved the way for scalable sound-dampening interventions defined by vibrant colour and complex geometric patterns.
The Process:
An organic binder is added to a pulp base that’s made from FSC- and PEFC-certified pine and spruce cellulose.
This mixture is fed into a mould, pressed with 40 tonnes of weight and dried using a high-tech vacuum method.
The dried surface is then nano-perforated with a laser to intensify its acoustic capability.
Leftover ingredients are recycled into the factory’s closed circular system, to be reused in the next batch.
Five years later, the brand is offering a new innovation, with a collection of biodegradable and emission-free panels composed of ingredients you’d find on a walk in the woods. “From the day we founded Baux, we set an ambition to be a real factor in bringing more sustainable materials to the table,” says CEO Fredrik Franzon, who notes the research process included investigations of moss, fungus, hemp and cork before the chemical–free Acoustic Pulp recipe was finalized.
The material has actually been in development for over a decade at Sweden’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology; Baux joined the ranks two years ago to help transform it into a product. Made from a pine and spruce cellulose pulp and a binder derived from citrus peels, potato starch and plant-based wax, the new panels boast certified sound absorption. Innovations in building materials are often slowed by safety requirements – such as fire and moisture resistance, which are typically resolved with chemicals. To meet industry standards, the pulp mimics the natural fire resistance of grass roots and the water repellency of lotus flowers.
The inherent acoustic properties of the material is boosted by the panels’ forms. Their backs feature honeycomb structures that add strength but minimize weight. For the visible sides, Form Us With Love borrowed from origami folding techniques. The collection’s three designs feature various ridged forms that make a multi-sensory impact, inviting touch. And the panels’ soft colours are created naturally with wheat bran, a subtle counterpoint to Baux’s often Technicolor installations.
Since the material is completely biodegradable, it also propagates zero waste. “We can grind it down and make new panels” Franzon says. “It’s 100 per cent circular.” baux.se