When does texture read on a wall?
A relief fabric changes with distance, so choose its scale for where people will stand. Getzner gives each fabric's thickness: 2.1 mm for Basic and 3.8 mm for Cubic Pico, against 5.4 mm for Cubic Giga and 5.65 mm for Volumic Bubble. Judge the scale itself from a sample viewed at the real distance, whether that is beside a booth, along a corridor or across a lobby.
A textured fabric also needs to be flat and taut to read cleanly. A relief that sags or ripples gives broken, uneven shadows. Getzner's datasheets describe its stretched test panels (Type E-150) as fabric tightly stretched across a frame; stretch it as tightly on site.
Adhered wallcovering or stretched fabric?
A fabric wall covering is either glued to the wall like wallpaper or stretched over a frame or track in front of it. Getzner lists ceiling linings and textile wall coverings among Acunic's uses, and it documents the fabric stretched over frames as wall panels, as ceiling sails and as curtains. Ask AKA Acoustics before planning a glued finish.
A stretched finish gives the most control over a relief. The frame holds the fabric flat, sets a clean edge and leaves a cavity behind the cloth. Getzner's own acunic frame shows the range of forms: square, round or hexagonal panels for walls or ceilings, combined in groups and available backlit, with frames in black, white or silver anodised aluminium or in solid oak from the Bregenzerwald. Getzner offers it in every fabric in the collection, and fabric wall panels shows how the fabric and frame work together.
How do you set out joints, edges and corners with a relief fabric?
Start from the roll width. Getzner weaves Acunic from 142 cm wide for Optic Structure to 175 cm for the Accentric fabrics, each with a tolerance of plus or minus 5 per cent. Size panels to the narrowest width the tolerance allows: for Cubic Pico, at 154 cm, that is about 146 cm. Then allow for the fabric that wraps the frame on each edge.
The table gives the width and thickness of each fabric for set-out, along with its weight, flow resistance, abrasion rating and care.
Physical data
Thickness matters at edges and corners. Accentric Soundwave is 2.0 mm thick and Volumic Bubble 5.65 mm, so the thicker fabrics need more allowance where they wrap a frame edge or meet at an internal corner.
Make the joints part of the design. Every panel edge becomes a line in the finished wall or ceiling, so set the panels on a grid that relates to the room: door heads, window mullions, ceiling heights and the spacing of lights. At the Health Campus in Bludenz, Getzner lists ceiling sails and acoustic curtains in a historic attic, with Cubic Giga in its acunic frame system with timber frames. Getzner notes that the selected geometric structure echoes the historic roof trusses.
Hang every panel the same way up. Check a sample turned on its side: if a relief runs one way, a turned panel catches the light differently from its neighbours. The datasheets add two fitting details: wear white cotton gloves when handling the fabric, and seal cut edges with heated fabric edging scissors.
How should a textured wall be lit?
Light from a low angle draws out a relief. Each raised face catches the light and casts a small shadow beside it. Light set close to the wall and aimed along it, called grazing light, shows the texture, while an even wash of light from in front of the wall gives it a quieter, flatter look. The same low light also shows any slack in the fabric, which is one more reason to stretch it taut.
Fabric can carry light as well as receive it. Getzner offers the acunic frame with backlighting, and at Sparkasse Götzis, Cubic Giga covers the ceiling luminaires in a bank's customer area, where Getzner writes of the combination of diffuse light and textile surfaces. The Sparkasse Götzis project shows it in place.
What fire evidence applies to a fabric wall or ceiling?
In Australia, wall and ceiling linings in Class 2 to 9 buildings must meet NCC Specification 7 under clause C2D11, and Table S7C4 sets the Group Numbers allowed by building class, sprinkler protection and location. Fire-isolated exits need Group 1 walls and ceilings in every class the table lists.
Whether a stretched fabric panel or a ceiling sail counts as a lining or as an attachment is the building certifier's decision, so raise it early in design.
AKA Acoustics' Technical Product Summary (Version A, October 2024) gives Group 1 to Cubic Pico, Accentric Crash, Accentric Crinkle, Accentric Soundwave and Optic Braid, and Group 2 to the other articles, including Cubic Mega, Optic Diamond and Basic. How Group Numbers work explains what each Group allows and what evidence to ask for.
Does a fabric wall change the acoustics?
Flow resistance belongs to the fabric; absorption in use depends on it and on the construction behind it. Canterbury Acoustic Testing Services in Christchurch tested Cubic Pico on a 50 mm frame to AS ISO 354:2006: the result was NRC 0.55 with the cavity left empty and NRC 0.85 once 20 mm of fibreglass filled it (report 2026-316.1). What the frame and infill do covers that construction in detail.
For ceilings, suspended sails add absorption where walls are glazed or busy. Getzner's acunic cloud hangs with suspension of up to 1,000 mm, and its own offices in Bludenz use Cubic Pico for ceiling sails and skylight cladding. Fabric ceiling sails explains how a sail is rated and placed, and ceiling sails in Acunic shows the options.
A fabric wall absorbs sound inside the room, and sound passing to the room next door is a matter for sound insulation. The difference between absorption and sound insulation explains both.
