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Residential Project Developed By Specialized Architect Creates Total Acoustic Isolation Bedroom, Achieves Rare Sound Levels, Funds Academic Research And Revives Debate About The Absence Of Acoustic Comfort In Housing Norms
A Turkish architect transformed his own residence, in southwestern Turkey, into an extreme experiment of acoustic comfort, creating a 84 m² house designed to achieve rare and relevant silence levels for hearing health.
Project Of The Most Silent House Born From A Medical Need
About ten years ago, Onurcan Cakir conceived the dwelling as a direct response to a rare medical condition related to hearing, after developing sound hypersensitivity as a result of an acoustic injury.
The condition began to require rigorously controlled environments, as common sounds caused pain, making it unfeasible to remain in conventional urban spaces and driving architectural solutions focused on silence.
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Engineering To Block Sound
The residence was built with external walls approximately 50 cm thick, combining stone, brick, and multiple layers of acoustic insulation carefully integrated into the structure.
Double doors and triple-sealed windows, with air between the layers, prevent noise from entering, even at low frequencies, which are traditionally difficult to block.
One of the three bedrooms functions as a total isolation room, similar to an acoustic panic room, with concrete reinforcements, air chambers, and mineral wool.
Measured Silence Levels
According to a report to the New York Post, the interior of the house registers an average of 30 decibels, a level comparable to the sound of a cat purring.
At speech frequencies, the levels range from 45 to 50 decibels, while normal conversations reach 60, busy streets 85, and subways exceed 100.
Moving To A New City And Routine In The Most Silent House
Before the move, the architect lived in Istanbul, a city with about 16 million inhabitants, where airplanes, traffic, and neighbors made his stay unfeasible.
He settled in a village near Izmir, on the coast of the Aegean Sea, where he works as an associate professor at Izmir Democracy University, focusing on architectural acoustics.
Even in a small town, community events and traditional parties produce significant noise, causing him to remain in the most isolated room, with doors and windows closed.
Research And Future Impacts
The development of the home resulted in the formulation of a typology of silent houses, presented in an academic paper with guidelines for strict sound control.
Among the principles are total elimination of gaps, flexible construction connections to avoid vibrations, and combination of dense materials with absorbing layers in the acoustic interior.
The study highlights that acoustic comfort is still little considered in residential codes, despite its direct impact on health, well-being, and quality of life.
With information from Casa e Jardim.
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