A room cannot not sound
"One cannot not communicate." This famous quote by Paul Watzlawick reminds us that we are always communicating.
We should also be aware that no room is soundproof. Every room has an acoustic effect—always. No one can escape the influence of room acoustics. It is an essential part of our environment—and it has a significant impact on our experience.
Illustration: No space can be silent (AI-generated)
This insight means that building owners, architects, planners, and landlords always become co-creators or even perpetrators of spatial sound. And, as with communication, simply being aware of this effect can improve the result: spaces are composed more consciously and designed more thoughtfully.
At the same time, residents and users of spaces share responsibility. This is because we usually choose our environment ourselves: living space, workplace, or meeting place. We decide—consciously or unconsciously—for or against quality, including acoustic quality.
The environment has an impact. And the environment is often chosen by the individual.
However, not everyone is able to freely determine their acoustic environment:
Children have no influence on the acoustics of their daycare center or classroom.
Patients do not choose the treatment room.
Employees do not always use the conference room.
Citizens may not use the community center or auditorium for a meeting.
In addition, there are many people with an increased need for good speech intelligibility: people with hearing or speech impairments, with concentration difficulties, or those for whom Deutsch is Deutsch their native language. According to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), this applies to one in three to four people in Switzerland. This is not a marginal group, and the proportion is increasing every year.
Builders, architects, planners, and landlords have a special obligation to these people.
This is precisely where the new SIA Standard 181/1 for room acoustics (sia.ch), valid as of today, February 1, 2026, comes in: It is a practical tool that reduces complex room acoustics to a few clearly defined reverberation times—differentiated according to room usage types and frequency ranges.
SIA Standard 181/1 is a standard that takes everyone into account—including people with increased speech intelligibility needs—such as the author of this blog post, who is severely hard of hearing.
To ensure that this standard remains understandable in planning and communication, we have developed a supporting tool: our reverberation app. It makes room acoustic measures clear, discussable, and tangible —for everyone involved.
Since rooms cannot not sound, we should compose them to the best of our knowledge.
Ideas for good conversations:
When have you found listening difficult or easy—because of the room?
How does design create community?
What does mutual respect mean to you?
These questions are inspired by personalities from the fields of architecture, acoustics, sustainability, art, and philosophy and come from our card set "100 good questions for 200 good conversations."