A movable wall: rigid panels hung from an overhead track that slide and, when needed, stack away into a store, opening or dividing a large space in minutes. Each panel carries a sound-absorbing core and perimeter seals so that, closed, it insulates almost like a wall. It is the tool of flexible spaces — conference halls, classrooms, offices, hotels — re-configurable with no building work.
Technical section of the system, from inside (left) to outside (right).
A movable wall: rigid panels hung from an overhead track that slide and, when needed, stack away into a store, opening or dividing a large space in minutes. Each panel carries a sound-absorbing core and perimeter seals so that, closed, it insulates almost like a wall. It is the tool of flexible spaces — conference halls, classrooms, offices, hotels — re-configurable with no building work.
An operable partition is a movable wall: rigid panels hung from an overhead track that slide and, when needed, stack away into a store, opening or dividing a large space in minutes. It is the tool of flexible spaces — conference halls, classrooms, offices, hotels.
Closed, the partition must insulate like a wall: so each panel has a sound-absorbing core and two heavy faces, and above all perimeter seals that, dropped (the «guillotine» seals at floor and ceiling), close the edges. It is the air-tightness that makes the sound reduction (Rw): a single gap undoes it.
Everything hangs from the track: an overhead runway, well anchored to the structure, on which the carriers bear the panels. The track layout — straight, with curves and switches — decides how and where the panels park (concertina, stacked, in a pocket). The structure above must be checked for the hung weight.
The panels are moved by hand or motorised; the seals and stops must be adjusted so the tightness lasts. Fire-rated versions (EI) can be specified to compartment. Floor and ceiling must be flat and level: the movable wall is precise and forgives little of the structure's tolerances.
Closed, an operable partition has to insulate like a wall — but it is not a monolithic wall: it is made of panels with joints, and a top and bottom edge that must meet ceiling and floor. The sound reduction (Rw) therefore depends almost entirely on the air-tightness: drop-seals lower at floor and ceiling, the vertical joints close, and the panel is sealed all round. A single un-closed gap short-circuits the sound straight through and collapses the Rw — far more than a little less mass would. Mass and an absorbing core set the ceiling of the performance; the seals decide whether you actually reach it.
Each panel is a sandwich: two heavy faces for mass, a sound-absorbing core between them, on a stiff frame. Where panels meet, profiled edges interlock with a seal in the joint — it is this continuous line of seals, panel to panel, that lets the closed wall insulate like a solid one.
When the panel is parked, a lever pushes a hidden bar — the drop-seal or «guillotine» — down onto the floor, closing the gap that movement needs. It is the make-or-break of the acoustic performance: the panel can be heavy, but if the bottom edge does not seal, the sound passes straight under it.
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