Mission

Office buildings, receptions, lobbies, and restaurants: all examples of places with an open floor plan. Combined with the hard surfaces of modern interiors, this can cause undesirable sound reflections and reverberation, making it harder to hear one another or concentrate. At home hard surfaces may bring forth poor acoustics too, while in classic buildings tall ceilings often are to blame.

The reflecting of sound and reverberation in many cases is an important source of discomfort and distraction. Often unnoticed, it negatively impacts our wellbeing. Our acoustic luminaires reduce the auditory stimulus coming from the sounds around us. This improves focus and increases speech intelligibility. Moreover, a serene environment benefits our health.

Foamo was founded by Dutch designer Tjimkje de Boer in collaboration with a certified acoustician. Operating from greater Amsterdam, The Netherlands, it aims to design and manufacture lighting solutions that excite the eye, whilst genuinely improving the acoustics of each interior. We therefore use a superior melamine foam for our luminaires, renown for evenly absorbing all frequencies relevant to our hearing, and consequently preventing sound distortion.

To ensure optimal acoustic efficacy even at low level frequencies, our luminaires are relatively sizable. The reason is that no matter the superior properties of the acoustic material used, sufficient mass and surface are prerequisites to effectively absorb sound. The material thickness of the foam we use therefore is between 5 to 10 centimeters (1.97 to 3.34 inches), with the extruded shapes of the luminaires increasing their sound absorbing surface.

The acoustic foam used is OEKO-TEX certified and its production process complies with the State of California’s strict environmental laws. It is fire resistant conformant to DIN 4102 part 1 (B1) and BS 476 part 6/7 (Class 0), making our collection specifically suitable for venues open to the public.

At each product page you can download the acoustic report for the related model.