John Spicer and Michael Anderson talk to AT about Sonify from Zentia

Listen to the Ask the Expert podcast, in partnership with Zentia, exploring the key technical and performance aspects of the company’s new Sonify discontinuous ceiling system. In association with Click here to listen to the Ask the Expert podcast Recently launched by Zentia, Sonify is an innovative discontinuous ceiling system that embraces the principles of parametric design to deliver high-quality, design-led solutions with ease and accuracy. Conceived as a ‘kit-of-parts’ that can be configured online using Sonify 3D Studio, the system provides numerous benefits for architects, interior designers and specifiers. In the third of three Ask the Expert podcasts on ceiling design, John Spicer, Head of New Product Development at Zentia, and Michael Anderson, Head of Architectural and Design Consultancy, discuss the key technical and performance aspects of Sonify, as well as the feedback received so far, with AT’s Technical Editor John Ramshaw. Could you explain why Zentia has adopted a ‘kit of parts’ approach to Sonify and how it impacts on the design, delivery and installation processes? JS Sonify’s kit of parts approach provides the flexibility to use standard, preconfigured, and pre-engineered components in a variety of different ways. Well known examples of this methodology include Lego and Meccano. One of the best examples in construction terms are kitchens. Here, specifiers design a layout from standard cabinets and are then able to change the doors, handles, trims, etc. This is what we're trying to do with the Sonify system. From a design perspective, what does Sonify offer in terms of the different types and shapes of ceiling installation available? JS Our focus is on panels: either canopies or baffles. There are 17 shapes as standard, as well as a degree of variability in terms of how they're laid out – whether that is multiples of the same shape or size, or a mix of different shapes and sizes in the same configuration. So we'll have a baffle configuration that might be a standard rectangle, or it may be an angled or curved version. And then for the canopies we'll have squares, rectangles circles and hexagons. Could you tell us why Sonify was developed and how it differs from traditional discontinuous ceiling systems? GT Zentia has evolved from Armstrong Ceiling Solutions, and while we retained many of the standard products that specifiers will be familiar with, we also recognised that there was a gap in our product offering for something that could allow architects to be creative and put their own personal stamp on ceiling design. Sonify also responds to the growing trend towards discontinuous ceiling options and the specific needs of clients, specifiers, designers, acousticians and installers in this respect. Sonify is designed to give specifiers a high degree of design creativity and flexibility using a kit-of-parts approach What about colours and finishes for the components? How many standard shades are there? JS We have a palette of 35 standard colours that can be applied to the panels. But designers are not limited to just choosing one tone,