The brief rarely contains silence. Clients request light, views, ventilation, slim frames. But when we complete a project, and lose our train of thought in the middle of a conversation as the room suddenly feels quiet — that’s when you know something hit. That silence is not accidental. It is designed.
When a Client Notices Silence First
In residential and mixed-use projects, people usually notice acoustic comfort only when it’s missing. The hum of traffic, distant car horns, voices outside on the street. These sounds don’t announce themselves. They sneak into the mix and incrementally degrade quality of life.
Something we’ve seen common to all our projects here at GREFET. You don’t often hear clients say, “I want good acoustics from this window.”
They will say, “It feels peaceful on the inside,” or “We didn’t know how noisy it was on account of that.” That reaction says more than any test result.
Why Windows Determine Acoustic Comfort More Than Walls
Walls are believed to stop sound. Windows are supposed to let light through in them and somewhere around that, soundproofing is an optional extra.
What this is actually telling us, however, is that windows are reigning as the weakest point of a building’s thermal envelope.
Acoustic features of aluminium windows are determined by:
- Profile rigidity and deflection control
- Glass configuration, not just thickness
- Gasket continuity and compression
- Locking points and closing pressure
- How reliable the model is over time
The silence comes from all of these being in sync together, not a single upgrade or add-on.
Reduced Noise vs. True Quiet
There is a subtle but crucial distinction. Noise reduction lowers volume. Acoustic comfort is the difference it makes in how a space feels.
Real quiet is when:
- Chit-chat does not compete with the outdoors
- The mornings and nights are insulated (in speakers), they shift back away from the tipsy bars
- And you stop paying attention to the window at all
This kind of performance only occurs when windows are conceived as systems, rather than assemblies of parts.
Where the Acoustic Intention Usually Fails
Acoustic performance is also lost well before installation in many schemes.
Common reasons include:
- Windows are refined once both the structure and façade are determined
- Visually chosen profile sizes, not structurally selected
- Glass prescribed without knowledge of behaviour of frame
- Design treating sealing as an accessory, not a guiding principle
By the time complaints come to light, it’s too late to remedy the cause
Designing for Silence, Not Claims
With GREFET, we don’t make windows to look good on paper. We design them to be invisible in daily life.
That requires thinking beyond the ratings and considering their lived experience:
- How is the performance of the shutter with wind load?
- Does it still hold a tight seal over time?
- Will final movement still feel confined to a subject over time?
Silence is not just a setting. It’s the result of moderation, accuracy, and discipline.
The Quiet That Clients Remember
There is potential that your clients may not remember profile names or series codes. They recall the feeling a space gives them. When the first thing a client notices is silence, we know the window is doing its job. Keeping the city outside, letting life inside be undisturbed.
Now that, to us at GREFET, is actual performance.
