Team Works

Mobile office walls: accordion, track, Japanese partitions

Q: What is the difference in use between accordion, sliding track and Japanese partition?

The foldable accordion covers 3 to 12 m spans at 32-42 dB Rw, operable by a single user in 2-3 minutes, budget 600 to 1,000 EUR/m² installed. It suits training rooms with two configurations. The suspended sliding track goes up to 30 linear metres, reaches 55 dB Rw in standardised testing, requires 1 to 2 users in 4-5 minutes, budget 900 to 1,800 EUR/m² installed. It holds a confidential board room and allows 3 to 4 configurations on a single floor plate. The translucent Japanese partition acts as a visual filter at 25-32 dB Rw, operates in under a minute, budget 450 to 850 EUR/m² installed. It suits coworking and phone booths with no high acoustic requirement. Kytom regularly combines two types on the same project.

Do you reconfigure your meeting rooms one to four times a week and does your floor plate exceed 200 m²? The mobile wall becomes cost-effective; below that threshold it costs you 40 to 60% more in capex compared to a demountable DTU drywall partition.

Since 2006, Kytom has delivered 63 mobile wall projects and observed the same rule: outside its usage envelope, the sliding track destroys value. Within the useful window, our teams orchestrate the entire project, from the technical survey to the acceptance acoustic measurement, with three mastered families: foldable accordion (3 to 12 m span), suspended sliding track (up to 30 linear metres), translucent Japanese partition. Budget framed between 600 and 1,800 €/m² installed depending on type, sound reduction of 32 to 55 dB Rw guaranteed by laboratory testing, 12-week lead time from the survey.

Here is how we decide on the type, secure real acoustic performance in operation and integrate the high-slab constraint from the preliminary design stage.

Our decision

Three families, one single criterion: your actual usage

Before the quote, Kytom decides based on three measurable criteria: useful span, target acoustic level, daily opening frequency. The grid draws on 63 projects delivered between 2018 and 2024.

Family	Span	Sound reduction Rw	Installed budget	Operation
Foldable accordion	3 to 12 m	32 to 42 dB	600 to 1,000 €/m²	1 user, 2-3 min
Suspended sliding track	up to 30 m	up to 55 dB	900 to 1,800 €/m²	1-2 users, 4-5 min
Japanese partition	2 to 8 m	25 to 32 dB	450 to 850 €/m²	1 user,<1 min

The accordion suits training rooms with two configurations. The sliding track opens up 3 to 4 configurations on a single floor plate and holds a confidential board room (laboratory test reports per EN ISO 10140-2). The Japanese partition filters sightlines in coworking spaces without any acoustic ambition. Kytom combines two types on the same project in 22 cases out of 63: acoustic track on the management side, Japanese partition on the agora side.

A position we stand by: the mobile wall is an object of use, not an object of image. Across the 63 projects monitored, tracks installed solely for their architectural effect and reconfigured less than once a month are systematically penalised at delivery: unjustified extra cost, permanently compressed joints that harden and leak within 5 years. In this configuration, a demountable drywall partition combined with a material signature (solid wood, lacquered steel) serves your project better for a third of the budget.

The framework

The acoustic standards applicable to workspaces: what you really gain in operation

Standard NF S 31-080:2006 sets the minimum sound insulation between closed offices or meeting rooms: Rw = 32 dB at standard level, Rw ≥ 38 dB for confidential management areas (table 1, high-performance level). This requirement is part of a general obligation to control noise at the workstation.

The catalogue Rw is only achieved in operation under three conditions, which Kytom imposes in the technical specifications:

watertight perimeter connections at floor, ceiling and jambs, joints compressed to 8 to 12 mm;
plenum partitioned at the high slab, otherwise parasitic airborne transmission;
no untreated penetration (cable conduit, transfer grille) in the partition.

Site experience confirms it: a mobile wall rated at 45 dB Rw can lose up to 10 dB if the plenum remains open. Kytom therefore includes a trial acoustic test before acceptance on all acoustic track projects, with a report handed to the client. The manufacturers’ laboratory certificates are archived in the as-built documentation.

A limit to be aware of. In older commercial property (buildings before 1990, plenums that cannot be partitioned, irregular floating slabs), aiming for 50 dB Rw in confidential areas is rarely achievable without heavy plenum rework, which wipes out the economic benefit of the mobile wall. For this profile, we steer you towards a fixed acoustic drywall partition: it is less flattering, it is more sustainable.

Honesty

When we advise against a mobile wall

Two configurations make the operation unprofitable, and we prefer to tell you before the quote.

Occupancy rate of fixed rooms above 70%. Pooling space via a mobile wall then degrades comfort without freeing up any real area. You need to build additional closed rooms rather than make the existing ones variable. We steer you towards our fixed acoustic partitions offer.

Remaining lease under 4 years with no firm renewal option. The mobile wall does not pay off (target service life of 10 to 15 years), despite the theoretical residual value preserved by demountability. Within this window, a demountable DTU drywall partition remains more relevant: capex halved, return of the premises without heavy rework.

Across 63 projects monitored, Kytom has declined 9 operations that fell into one of these two configurations. This discipline preserves your ROI and our satisfaction rate at delivery (zero disputed acceptance 2020-2024 on the mobile wall type).

Method

Technical survey and high-slab check
Weeks 1 to 2. Our teams carry out the geometric survey, check the permissible load of the high slab (150 to 250 kg/lm depending on the targeted track) and identify the plenum, HVAC and fire-safety constraints. A calculation note is produced with our partner engineering firm if the slab is borderline.
Type decision and sizing
Weeks 3 to 4. We decide between accordion, sliding track and Japanese partition based on span, target acoustic level and opening frequency. The technical specifications for lot 02 set the demountability in stone (screwed plates with no chemical anchoring) to preserve your lease.
Approvals from inspection office, fire safety and landlord
Weeks 4 to 7. Kytom handles the exchanges with the inspection office, fire-safety coordinator and landlord. We obtain written approvals before launching fabrication, a step that prevents 80% of the classic disputes on this type of work.
Fabrication and installation
Weeks 8 to 11. Installation by teams with systematic treatment of perimeter connections (joints compressed 8 to 12 mm, plenum partitioning, jamb watertightness). No untreated penetration tolerated in the partition.
Acceptance with trial acoustic test
Week 12. In situ measurement before handover, report given to the client, training of the Office Managers on operation and the preventive maintenance plan (3% of capex per year for a 15-year service life).

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference in use between accordion, sliding track and Japanese partition?

The foldable accordion covers 3 to 12 m spans at 32-42 dB Rw, operable by a single user in 2-3 minutes, budget 600 to 1,000 EUR/m² installed. It suits training rooms with two configurations. The suspended sliding track goes up to 30 linear metres, reaches 55 dB Rw in standardised testing, requires 1 to 2 users in 4-5 minutes, budget 900 to 1,800 EUR/m² installed. It holds a confidential board room and allows 3 to 4 configurations on a single floor plate. The translucent Japanese partition acts as a visual filter at 25-32 dB Rw, operates in under a minute, budget 450 to 850 EUR/m² installed. It suits coworking and phone booths with no high acoustic requirement. Kytom regularly combines two types on the same project.

05 — Inspirations