Inside Agile | Materials We Love

Valchromat: Colour with a Conscience

Date 28.10.2025 Author: Stuart Jones

At AgileAcoustics, we’re always exploring materials that do more — that perform acoustically, look beautiful, and align with our values around sustainability and local craftsmanship. One material that’s become a firm favourite in our workshop is Valchromat: an engineered fibreboard that’s as striking as it is responsible.

What is Valchromat?

Valchromat starts life as wood fibres sourced from forest thinning and waste wood — materials that might otherwise go to landfill. Each fibre is individually coloured using organic dyes, then bonded together with a non-toxic resin, creating a through-coloured panel that’s dense, durable and effortlessly expressive.

Unlike traditional MDF, Valchromat isn’t just coated on the surface — its colour runs all the way through. This means edges can be left exposed, sanded, or even shaped into curves and cut-outs without losing their richness or tone.

Why We Love It

  • Sustainable at its core: Made from recycled wood waste and certified by FSC, Valchromat helps reduce environmental impact without sacrificing performance.

  • Beautifully bold: Available in a palette of deep, natural colours — from charcoal grey to vibrant orange and moss green — it brings warmth and personality to acoustic design.

  • Strong and stable: Thanks to its fibre composition, Valchromat is around 30% stronger than standard MDF, making it perfect for architectural detailing and structural applications.

  • Finishing flexibility: Whether oiled, waxed, or left raw, it offers a tactile surface that complements both modern and natural interiors.

Valchromat Meets AgileGRID

We’ve recently introduced Valchromat as an alternative grid option in our AgileGRID acoustic wall system — a perfect pairing of material innovation and modular flexibility. The result? A wall system that feels warmer and more organic than metal, while still allowing clients to move acoustic panels, foliage, and whiteboards to curate their own layouts.

Even better, Valchromat can be CNC-cut to match client branding — from logo outlines to bespoke geometric patterns — giving designers a new level of creative freedom.

Designed and Made in Yorkshire

All our Valchromat products are designed, cut, and assembled at our Salts Mill workshop in West Yorkshire. By sourcing regionally and working closely with local timber partners, we keep our supply chain short, our carbon footprint low, and our quality control high.

A Material for the Future

Valchromat embodies what we believe design should be: beautiful, useful and responsible. It’s not just a material choice — it’s a mindset. And it’s shaping the next generation of AgileAcoustics products, from AgileGRID to AgilePOD finishes and even future concepts we’re developing right now.

Next in the Series

Next month in Materials We Love, we’ll be talking about Recycled PET Felt — how something as simple as a plastic bottle can become a high-performing acoustic surface.