Acoustic panels and whiteboards are usually specified from different suppliers, in different depths and finishes, which is the root cause of most mismatched combined walls. Without a shared specification, the two products simply don’t sit at the same depth or align to the same grid.

The fix starts before either product is ordered, not after both have arrived on site.

This is compounded when the two products are ordered at different points in a project timeline, since by the time the second product arrives, the finish or colour range originally matched to the first may no longer be available.

A facilities manager comparing two supplier catalogues side by side, without checking mounted depth specifically, is one of the most common ways this mismatch ends up specified without anyone noticing until installation.

Specifying both products to the same mounted depth off the wall is the single most effective way to keep the combined surface reading as one plane rather than a stepped arrangement. This needs checking against both products’ actual specification sheets, not assumed to be similar by default.

A depth mismatch of even a centimetre or two is enough to read as an obvious step rather than a flush surface, so this figure is worth confirming directly against both products’ technical drawings rather than estimating from photographs.

Matching or deliberately complementary colours and surface textures between the whiteboard’s frame and the acoustic panelling helps the wall read as a single designed feature. A stark contrast between a white whiteboard frame and heavily textured fabric panelling, for instance, tends to emphasise the join rather than disguise it.

A useful shortcut is to select the acoustic panel finish first, since fabric and textured options are usually more limited than whiteboard frame colours, then match the whiteboard finish to it rather than the other way round.

Aligning the top and bottom edges of the whiteboard with the acoustic panels, and keeping joint widths consistent across the full wall width, removes the visual cues that would otherwise separate the two products in a viewer’s eye.

This is largely a setting-out exercise for whoever installs the wall, but it needs to be specified clearly rather than left to on-site judgement.

A simple string line or laser level run across the full wall width during setting-out is usually enough to catch any misalignment before fixing begins, rather than discovering it once both products are already mounted.

The clearest way to get a coordinated result is to brief whichever supplier or contractor is installing both products to treat the wall as a single composition from the outset, rather than installing a whiteboard and then separately fitting panels around it afterwards.

Sharing a single combined drawing showing both products on the same wall, rather than two separate specification sheets, is usually enough to communicate this intent clearly to whoever ends up installing the wall.

It is worth confirming this expectation in writing as part of the order, rather than assuming it will be understood, particularly where the whiteboard and acoustic panels are being procured through separate purchase orders.

See how Chameleon design whiteboards are specified to sit flush alongside acoustic panelling as a single composed wall.