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All issues Volume 10 (2026) Acta Acust., 10 (2026) 41 Full HTML
Issue
Acta Acust.
Volume 10, 2026
Topical Issue - Development of European Acoustics in 20th Century
Article Number 41
Number of page(s) 9
DOI https://doi.org/10.1051/aacus/2026044
Published online 12 June 2026

© The Author(s), Published by EDP Sciences, 2026

Licence Creative CommonsThis is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

1 Introduction

The Building Research Institute (Instytut Techniki Budowlanej, ITB) was established in 1945, immediately after the end of World War II; however, its origins date back to the 1920s. The Institute was founded to conduct research in the field of building and construction engineering. The Department of Acoustics constitutes one of its specialized divisions and is primarily engaged in building acoustics, while also addressing architectural acoustics and environmental noise control. The history of the Department of Acoustics at the Building Research Institute is, at the same time, the history of the development of building acoustics in Poland. From the provisional reverberation chamber of the 1950s, through the construction of modern laboratory facilities, to participation in international research projects and contribution to European research directions, the Department’s activity over more than six decades has formed an essential component of the advancement of building science. The consistently implemented vision of Prof. Jerzy Sadowski, based on a comprehensive approach to sound insulation, noise protection, and indoor environmental quality, enabled the establishment of a strong research centre. This centre not only conducted pioneering laboratory and field investigations, but also contributed to the development of standardisation frameworks, assessment methodologies, and tools supporting the acoustic design of buildings.

2 Development of the Acoustics Laboratory

In the initial period of ITB’s activity, the establishment of a research laboratory dedicated to building acoustics – at that time a relatively young scientific discipline – encountered difficulties related to the recruitment of suitably qualified specialists. Consequently, research efforts were initially limited mainly to analytical and theoretical studies [1–3]. The founder of the Department of Acoustics at the Building Research Institute was Prof. Jerzy Sadowski (Fig. 1).

Thumbnail: Figure 1. Refer to the following caption and surrounding text. Figure 1.

Prof. Jerzy Sadowski, the founder of the Department of Acoustics at ITB.

His association with ITB dates back to 1952, when, as a student of the Faculty of Communications at the Warsaw University of Technology, he completed his Master’s thesis under the supervision of Prof. Ignacy Malecki. The thesis concerned methods for testing and acoustical evaluation of sound-absorbing materials and was based on measurements carried out in a provisional reverberation chamber created by adapting a conference room in the ITB building at Filtrowa Street. During the construction of one of the laboratory buildings, a meeting room was adapted for measurement and research purposes aimed at determining the acoustic properties of building materials. The design and implementation of this adaptation constituted part of the Master’s thesis project. The facility was used to measure the sound absorption coefficient of materials and sound-absorbing systems (see Fig. 2). The reverberation chamber remained in operation until 1959, when the Building Acoustics Unit was formally established and a provisional acoustics laboratory was commissioned at ITB’s new premises at 21 Ksawerów Street. At that time, a mobile acoustics laboratory was also created to enable in situ measurements. Two years later, work commenced on the design documentation for a modern acoustics laboratory, which – by the standards of the time – represented a highly advanced research facility. Its completion in 1962 created the conditions for the expansion of research activities into a broader range of topics (see Figs. 3–6).

Thumbnail: Figure 2. Refer to the following caption and surrounding text. Figure 2.

The laboratory facilities in ITB; left: conference room as reverberation chamber, right: control room (1951).

Thumbnail: Figure 3. Refer to the following caption and surrounding text. Figure 3.

ITB building acoustics research facility completed in 1962.

Thumbnail: Figure 4. Refer to the following caption and surrounding text. Figure 4.

Tapping machine made by ITB (1961).
Thumbnail: Figure 5. Refer to the following caption and surrounding text. Figure 5.

Reverberation chamber in the laboratory of the ITB Acoustics Department with the test sample of diffusers (1965).

Thumbnail: Figure 6. Refer to the following caption and surrounding text. Figure 6.

Anechoic chamber in the laboratory of the ITB Acoustics Department (1965).

In shaping the research programme of the Department, Prof. Sadowski placed strong emphasis on a comprehensive approach, deliberately assuming the gradual extension of the Department’s activities to additional branches of acoustics in response to emerging scientific and technical challenges in construction, as well as to the increasing research capabilities of the laboratory. As a result of this strategic approach, the Department – initially concerned mainly with building acoustics and selected aspects of room acoustics – developed within a relatively short period into a centre also addressing building services acoustics and industrial acoustics. It further initiated and subsequently developed research in urban acoustics in Poland, later extending its scope to environmental acoustics [4–8].

From a historical perspective, it can be stated that the establishment of the Department of Acoustics opened new fields of research activity within the Institute, in line with emerging international trends that emphasised the necessity of addressing buildings not only in architectural and structural terms, but also with regard to the adequacy of their functional performance to the needs of future users [9, 10].

In the subsequent years, the research infrastructure was systematically expanded and modernised. A new laboratory was established for the assessment of the acoustic performance of building service installations, as well as a dedicated test facility for measuring the airborne and impact sound insulation of floors and floor assemblies. The laboratories were continuously upgraded and adapted to evolving ISO requirements and, subsequently, to the regulatory framework of the European Community. Within research programmes devoted to the development of methods for assessing the acoustic performance of building partitions, model test chambers for airborne and impact sound insulation of homogeneous partitions at a scale of 1:5 were constructed. Among other investigations, these facilities were used to perform impact sound insulation measurements employing a miniature tapping machine (see Fig. 7). The miniature tapping machine had five hammers, each 100 g, diameter 0.6 cm, with a fall height 0.8 cm and 3000 impacts per minute. Comparative tests carried out on a full-scale chamber and model test chambers showed the convergence of airborne sound insulation results for single homogeneous partitions. With respect to the impact sound level measurement results, significant discrepancies were found in relation to the shape of the characteristic.

Thumbnail: Figure 7. Refer to the following caption and surrounding text. Figure 7.

Model chambers with miniature tapping machine (1972).

Measurement procedures at the individual test facilities were progressively automated, beginning with the calibration of measurement chains and encompassing the entire testing cycle, up to the recording of results and the generation of standardised test reports. All measurements were conducted remotely from two control rooms serving the respective test stands. Within the test chambers, temperature, air pressure, relative humidity, and background noise levels were continuously monitored and controlled. This measurement system has been systematically updated and remains in operation to the present day. Upon completion of each testing procedure, all results are automatically archived, which has led to the creation of a unique database. The system provides online access to measurement results collected over the past 35 years and enables advanced analyses, including the identification of factors influencing the acoustic parameters of tested elements and the monitoring of long-term trends and correlations [11]. Numerous studies were also conducted to determine measurement uncertainty and to assess its influence on the reported results [12, 13].

The Acoustics Laboratory of ITB has been conducting tests of the acoustic performance of building materials, products, and structural elements for more than 60 years, in accordance with the evolving requirements of ISO and CEN standards. In 1999, the laboratory was further expanded by the addition of a new segment equipped with test facilities for the determination of dynamic stiffness, airflow resistivity, and longitudinal sound insulation of suspended ceilings and raised floors [14–16] (Fig. 8).

Thumbnail: Figure 8. Refer to the following caption and surrounding text. Figure 8.

Research chambers of the ITB Acoustics Department (ITB archive); upper left: reverberation chambers for sound insulation of small elements (built in 2000); upper right: reverberation chambers for sound insulation of large elements (built in 1962); middle left: reverberation chamber for sound absorption (built in 1962, modernized in 2010); middle right: anechoic chamber (built in 1962, modernized in 2000); lower left: airflow resistivity test facility; lower right: dynamic stiffness test facility.

3 Cooperation with other research centres

For a considerable period, the Institute operated within the geopolitical framework of the Eastern Bloc. In the 1950s, international cooperation was largely limited to contacts with corresponding research institutes in the countries of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA), while collaboration with Western institutions remained sporadic.

In the early 1960s, a long-term cooperation in the field of acoustics was initiated with the Research Institute of Building Physics in Moscow. The first joint research project resulted in a publication, issued in both Polish and Russian, addressing principles of acoustical design of massive building partitions. Subsequent collaborative studies concerned sound propagation in open and built-up areas, particularly in recreational and spa regions [17]. Joint field investigations were conducted in health resorts in Poland and Georgia. These studies led to the development of a number of empirical relationships describing the influence of terrain configuration, vegetation type, and urban layout on the acoustic conditions of spa areas. Acoustic maps were prepared for several localities, including Gagra, Kudowa, Polanica, Połczyn, and Kołobrzeg. The Department of Acoustics also cooperated with analogous laboratories at research institutes in the German Democratic Republic and Czechoslovakia.

Initiated in the 1960s, equally significant was the cooperation with ISO Technical Committee ISO/TC 43/SC 2 (building acoustics) at a time when Europe remained politically divided. These contacts enabled continuous monitoring of current research topics, implementation of emerging principles and methodologies in Poland, alignment with Western research trends, and active participation in international standardisation developments. This cooperation continues to this day.

Since 1965 an important role in strengthening links with the Western acoustics community was played by the exchange of researchers between the Institute and CSTB, as well as by annual Polish–French colloquia and joint research projects. During the same period, the Department of Acoustics also established cooperation with partners in the United States. A multi-year joint project with U.S. Department of Health Education and Welfare Public Health Service represented by Center for Disease Control Environmental Health Service Division Bureau of State Services, financed by the Maria Skłodowska-Curie Fund, involved laboratory investigations of more than one hundred building partitions of traditional, lightweight, and prefabricated construction.

In 1970s, broader opportunities for international cooperation were provided by the Institute’s participation in the activities of CIB Commission W-51 “Acoustics", in which the Head of the Department of Acoustics, Prof. Jerzy Sadowski, became the Polish representative from 1970 to 2000. The meetings of CIB W-51, organised in various European countries, constituted an important forum for the exchange of experience and research results. During this period, the Commission’s work focused primarily on the influence of flanking transmission on the sound insulation of building partitions [18–20].

In 1991, Poland became an affiliated member of CEN. From the very beginning of its affiliation, representatives of the Acoustics Department took an active part in the work of Technical Committee CEN/TC 126.

In the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, the Department of Acoustics became increasingly involved in large-scale European research programmes, reflecting the growing integration of building acoustics into broader technological and sustainability frameworks. Participation in projects such as ManuBuild, SESB(E), and H-House marked a shift from purely performance-oriented studies towards systemic approaches addressing the full life cycle of buildings. Within these projects, acoustic performance was no longer treated as an isolated parameter, but as one component of multifunctional facade systems, energy-efficient envelopes, and environmentally optimised housing concepts. This evolution mirrored a wider European transition from component-based evaluation to integrated building performance assessment. Particularly significant was the contribution to COST Action TU0901, which aimed at developing harmonised descriptors for dwelling sound insulation and proposing a European acoustic classification scheme. This work represented an important step towards the unification of assessment principles across Europe and illustrates the transformation of building acoustics from nationally defined requirements to internationally harmonised systems [21–23].

4 Research directions

The evolution of research directions at the ITB Department of Acoustics reflects the broader European transformation of building acoustics over the twentieth century. The focus gradually shifted from empirically oriented investigations of individual building elements and their sound insulation performance towards integrated assessment frameworks, classification schemes, and harmonised evaluation descriptors. In parallel, building acoustics evolved from a discipline primarily concerned with partition insulation to one addressing the overall acoustic quality of the built environment and its role in shaping indoor environmental comfort and quality of life.

4.1 Building acoustics

In the initial stage of activity, research was primarily focused on the sound insulation and sound absorption properties of conventional building products used in residential and public buildings [24–29]. These studies also addressed components of external walls, in particular windows and their sealing systems, considered both as direct airborne sound transmission paths and as elements defining the boundary conditions of sash support, thereby influencing the overall sound insulation performance of the composite structural system [30, 31] (see Fig. 8 upper left and right). Research was also carried out on the acoustic properties of small building components, particularly air inlets, with special attention paid to resonance phenomena occurring within such elements [32–35].

A separate line of research concerned the sound insulation performance of timber frame buildings, enabling the identification of dominant sound transmission paths and the formulation of mitigation strategies. These investigations addressed the primary structural configuration of walls and floors, lining boards, additional insulating layers, as well as details of joints and fixings [36]. The airborne and impact sound insulation of prototype floors constructed from composite panels was also examined with regard to the potential application of such solutions in general building construction [37]. Similar studies were carried out for other lightweight structures, such as ship bulkheads, where the principal challenge consisted in achieving high sound insulation performance while maintaining minimal thickness and surface mass-requirements that are inherently contradictory [38]. Furthermore, relationships between the acoustic and thermal performance of building partitions were analysed, with particular attention paid to the adverse effects of applying lightweight external thermal insulation composite systems (ETICS) to both massive partitions and lightweight frame constructions [39, 42].

The research focused on the relationships between sound absorption coefficients and air flow resistivity of materials and the thickness of the layer were also performed. The data of airflow resistivity and the thickness of material, were compared with measured values obtained in the reverberation room (see Fig. 8 middle and lower left). The nomograms, which allow to estimate sound absorption coefficients from knowledge of air flow resistivity and the thickness of material layer have been developed, to make it possible to determine optimal values of thickness and flow resistivity of porous material, above which the sound absorption coefficients no longer increase [40, 41].

Research was also conducted on the dynamic stiffness of resilient insulating materials (see Fig. 8 lower right). Investigations were undertaken to assess the impact sound reduction provided by floating floors on the basis of dynamic stiffness measurements of resilient layers characterised by different physico-chemical properties. A correlation was established between the dynamic stiffness of resilient layers and the impact sound reduction index of floating floor systems [36, 43]. In recent years, work has been initiated on a method for predicting the impact sound performance of floors with lightweight load-bearing structures, based on measurements of floor coverings installed on a massive reference slab. The correlation between the reduction of impact sound level achieved by floors mounted on lightweight supporting structures and the results obtained for the same floor systems tested on a massive reference slab has been analysed.

4.2 Assessment of acoustic conditions in buildings

One of the core activities of the Department of Acoustics has been the preparation of draft regulations concerning acoustic requirements in buildings, in close connection with environmental protection issues. This work has resulted in a set of standards defining acoustic requirements for residential and public buildings, including permissible indoor noise levels, sound insulation of internal and external building partitions, and reverberation conditions in rooms of various functions [44–47].

In cooperation with the Medical University of Warsaw, studies were conducted on the health effects of noise exposure on residents’ health and well-being. The results of this research led to the development of a method for assessing low-frequency noise and infrasound in residential buildings [48–51]. A proposal for an index for evaluating the acoustic quality of building design was also developed [52]. In recent years, research has also addressed noise associated with the operation of commercial premises located in multi-family residential buildings. These studies focused on the identification of principal noise sources within such premises and on the assessment of the sound insulation performance of building partitions in relation to the subjective perception of domestic and music noise transmitted into dwellings [53, 54].

In the field of room acoustics, the acoustic climate of public-use spaces was analysed and design guidelines for the acoustic treatment of such interiors were developed. These studies contributed to clarifying and improving the transparency of assessment criteria for the acoustic climate of public buildings. They also enhanced awareness among designers and investors of the importance of room acoustics and the necessity of implementing appropriate acoustic adaptation measures in such spaces [55–57].

4.3 Sustainable constructions

Over the past two decades, a major challenge has been the integration of acoustical issues into the broader framework of sustainable building development. This has involved addressing noise not only from the perspective of protection against unwanted sound, but also in terms of creating an appropriate acoustic living environment, while simultaneously considering the impact of buildings on the acoustic quality of the external environment. Construction has thus been analysed both as a means of noise control and as a potential source of noise. In this context, interrelations between environmental, planning, construction, and operational aspects of buildings were taken into account [58, 59]. Within this framework, an acoustic classification scheme for multi-family residential buildings was developed [60–62], as well as an acoustic classification of areas designated for residential development, incorporating the subjective annoyance associated with noise from various sources [63].

4.4 Environmental acoustics

In the 1990s, within the framework of a research project, a computer program named HPZ was developed for predicting industrial noise emission and immission in the environment (Fig. 9). The software included modules supporting both spatial and acoustic modelling of the analysed object, based on ISO 9613-2, and enabled the preparation of final documentation of input data and results in both tabular and graphical form. The program was intended for experts dealing with environmental assessments and was widely applied for many years in environmental noise analyses [64].

Thumbnail: Figure 9. Refer to the following caption and surrounding text. Figure 9.

HPZ software.

5 Conclusion

More than seventy years of activity of the ITB Department of Acoustics represent a period of dynamic development of research infrastructure, continuous expansion of scientific scope, and intensive international cooperation. From fundamental studies on the sound insulation of building partitions, through modelling of acoustic phenomena and assessment of indoor acoustic climate, to issues related to sustainable construction and environmental acoustics, the Department’s activities have systematically responded to evolving societal and technological needs.

The research methodologies developed, the classification schemes established, and the standards co-authored constitute a lasting contribution to the national and European systems of noise control. This legacy-grounded in measurement reliability, interdisciplinary approach, and openness to international collaboration-remains a solid foundation for further advances in research on the acoustic quality of buildings and the environment.

Conflict of interests

The author declares no conflicts of interest in regards to this article.

Data availability

No new data were created or analysed in this study.

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Cite this article as: Nowicka E. & Nurzynski J. 2026. The Department of Acoustics at the Building Research Institute (ITB): A historical overview. Acta Acustica, 10, 41. https://doi.org/10.1051/aacus/2026044.

All Figures

Thumbnail: Figure 1. Refer to the following caption and surrounding text. Figure 1.

Prof. Jerzy Sadowski, the founder of the Department of Acoustics at ITB.
In the text
Thumbnail: Figure 2. Refer to the following caption and surrounding text. Figure 2.

The laboratory facilities in ITB; left: conference room as reverberation chamber, right: control room (1951).
In the text
Thumbnail: Figure 3. Refer to the following caption and surrounding text. Figure 3.

ITB building acoustics research facility completed in 1962.
In the text
Thumbnail: Figure 4. Refer to the following caption and surrounding text. Figure 4.

Tapping machine made by ITB (1961).
In the text
Thumbnail: Figure 5. Refer to the following caption and surrounding text. Figure 5.

Reverberation chamber in the laboratory of the ITB Acoustics Department with the test sample of diffusers (1965).
In the text
Thumbnail: Figure 6. Refer to the following caption and surrounding text. Figure 6.

Anechoic chamber in the laboratory of the ITB Acoustics Department (1965).
In the text
Thumbnail: Figure 7. Refer to the following caption and surrounding text. Figure 7.

Model chambers with miniature tapping machine (1972).
In the text
Thumbnail: Figure 8. Refer to the following caption and surrounding text. Figure 8.

Research chambers of the ITB Acoustics Department (ITB archive); upper left: reverberation chambers for sound insulation of small elements (built in 2000); upper right: reverberation chambers for sound insulation of large elements (built in 1962); middle left: reverberation chamber for sound absorption (built in 1962, modernized in 2010); middle right: anechoic chamber (built in 1962, modernized in 2000); lower left: airflow resistivity test facility; lower right: dynamic stiffness test facility.
In the text
Thumbnail: Figure 9. Refer to the following caption and surrounding text. Figure 9.

HPZ software.
In the text

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