We set the standard for audio-inclusive spaces designed around real human experience.
Our Founder, Marion – who became profoundly deaf at 26 – created Sownd Affects in 2024 because he was tired of attending spaces that were too noisy for real connection, and of feeling wiped out by unfiltered sound and poorly designed environments. After founding leading hearing health company, Hearology, launching hearing clinics in Greater London and speaking to hundreds of people about their hearing challenges, he found he wasn’t alone. So, he decided to do something about it.
He wanted to create a company that not only bridged the gap between businesses investing in acoustic design and people desperate for quieter, more intelligible spaces, but also provided a way for those businesses to showcase their achievements.
Marion built Sownd Affects based on his own lived experience, 20 years of industry experience and 10 years of research and development. An expert in audio inclusivity, he’s secured innovation grants, played a key role in global policy as a WHO World Hearing Forum facilitator and launched major hearing health companies prior to Sownd Affects.
He’s passionate about bringing people together and curating spaces that feel calmer, clearer and more welcoming through better sound design.
We’re here to set the standard for audio-inclusive spaces – creating environments where sound supports comfort, connection and commercial success.
Sound is one of the most powerful – and most overlooked – elements of the built environment. Too often, acoustics are treated as a technical afterthought or a compliance tick-box. The result is spaces that look beautiful, but block out people who are noise-sensitive, neurodivergent or worn down by poorly managed sound.
We exist to change that by making the difference between sound that supports human connection and noise that gets in the way clear, measurable and actionable.
Our approach recognises that audio inclusion isn’t just a wellbeing issue; it’s a business one. When people are comfortable, they stay longer, connect more easily and return more often. It’s simple: better sound leads to better outcomes.
Setting the standard means raising expectations. Designing for real nervous systems. Treating accessibility as a baseline. And making acoustic comfort something that can be proven, trusted and built into spaces from the start.
The Sownd Difference
Support people:
from staff to customers, everyone experiences comfort and connection.
Deliver outcomes:
better acoustics lead to longer dwell times, stronger engagement and improved performance.
Measure what matters:
sound that can be trusted, and celebrated.
Bridge the gap:
from compliance to true accessibility, ensuring no one is excluded.
10,000+ people
already experienced our audio-inclusive spaces; and that number keeps growing.
Why “Sownd Affects”?
Sound affects how we feel, focus and connect; whether we’re aware of it or not. When it’s poorly designed, it drains energy and excludes. When it’s considered, it elevates wellbeing, participation and performance.
We spell it Sownd deliberately.
It reflects inclusion – recognising that not everyone experiences sound in the same way – and ownership. To own your sound is to take responsibility for the environment you create.
Sownd Certification gives organisations a way to prove that commitment.
Because when you own your sound, you shape the experience.
Our vision is a big one: a world where every space is designed so sound and conversation flow easily, where acoustics are as important as aesthetics and where carefully curated sound makes a tangible difference to people’s experience.
We want everyone to be included and connected, regardless of sensitivity to noise. We want organisations to understand the real-world benefits of audio inclusive design for wellbeing, engagement and business outcomes alike.
We can’t do it alone. Will you be part of the Sownd Movement?
I know what it feels like when a room isn’t designed for you – when you spend your energy fighting the environment instead of being present in it. Becoming profoundly deaf at 26 didn’t just change how I hear; it changed how I see every space I walk into. I started noticing who was struggling, who’d quietly stopped showing up. Sound shapes who feels welcome. That’s not a technical problem – it’s a human one. And it’s one we can actually solve.
Marion Marincat Sownd Affects Founder
Human-centred design that prioritises joy.
Human connection is at the heart of everything we do. Whether that’s curating spaces where people can talk without strain or feel at ease from the moment they walk in, we champion environments that dial down the status quo and design sound for presence, not just performance.
Inclusive by design.
Spaces should work for everyone, including the unheard 30% who are noise-sensitive, where comfort comes without compromise. Bridging the gap between compliance and real accessibility, we make acoustics understandable, usable, and genuinely welcoming.
Sound with standards.
Audio inclusivity goes beyond the minimum standards for noise: it’s about ensuring sound works for people, not just regulations. Soundscapes should amplify understanding, lower harmful noise and celebrate diverse sensory needs.
The Sownd Difference
Better sound leads to better experiences. Better experiences lead to better outcomes.
Partner with us, become certified or learn how your space can set the standard for audio-inclusive design.
The numbers don’t lie.
Sound affects how we feel, focus and connect; whether we’re aware of it or not. When it’s poorly designed, it drains energy and excludes. When it’s considered, it elevates wellbeing, participation and performance.
We spell it Sownd deliberately.
It reflects inclusion – recognising that not everyone experiences sound in the same way – and ownership. To own your sound is to take responsibility for the environment you create.
Sownd Certification gives organisations a way to prove that commitment.
Because when you own your sound, you shape the experience.
Human Impact
1 in 3
The percentage of the population who are noise sensitive.
86 minutes
The productivity that can be gained every single day with better sound in office environments.
45%
The number of employees who report noise as a major impact on their work, concentration and wellbeing.
Performance
66%
The level that productivity and performance can rise in spaces where noise remains at a comfortable level.
25%
The increase in service errors when ambient noise rises over 70dB.
3.5 days
The average number of days that can be gained per employee when noise is managed better in the workplace.
Retention
1 in 3
The customers who actively avoid venues due to excessive noise.
22%
The number of hotel complaints and guest reviews that mention negative noise.
3.5 days
The sick days linked to noise stress and poor acoustics.
Economic Loss
£40B
The annual cost to UK businesses through lost productivity, turnover and customer dissatisfaction from poor acoustics.
8%
The potential revenue gain from improved satisfaction and repeat visits.
£18K
The typical annual savings thanks to targeted acoustic improvements.
Time Loss
86 minutes
The time available when unnecessary interruptions and refocusing due to noise is eliminated.
2x
The amount of time that can be saved to complete tasks on time in comfortable-noise environments.
Frequent
The level of context switching forced through excessive noise, compounding time losses.
Health Risk
1B
The number of people around the world at risk of noise-induced hearing loss from unsafe sound levels at festivals.
12,500
The amount of children affected by aircraft noise exposure and consequent learning impairment across Europe.
30%
The percentage of the workforce reporting chronic stress from workplace noise.
Sownd Affects isn’t built around a business idea. It’s built around people who’ve felt, studied, designed around or pushed for better sound environments and decided to do something about it.
Core Team
Marion Marincat,
Co-Founder
Marion became profoundly deaf at 26. He spent the next two decades in the hearing health industry — founding companies, shaping global policy at the WHO World Hearing Forum and hearing first-hand from the people that poorly designed spaces were failing. Sownd Affects is built on that lived experience and a refusal to accept it as normal.
Emma Kiyomi Moffat,
Co-Founder
Emma is a PR, communications and brand consultant who has spent her career telling the stories of entrepreneurs and independent businesses doing things worth talking about. She makes Sownd’s mission visible and hard to ignore.
Andy Shanks,
Head of Operations
Andy is a former DJ who developed noise-induced hearing loss and now actively avoids the busy spaces most people take for granted. He brings operational discipline and, just as importantly, a first-hand understanding of exactly who we’re building this for.
Advisors
Daniel Lurcock,
Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, University of Southampton
The ISVR is where the science of acoustics gets serious. Daniel grounds the Sownd Standards in peer-reviewed research, making sure our certification is rigorous enough to withstand scrutiny from the people most qualified to question it.
Julian Treasure
Julian has spent decades making the case that sound is one of the most powerful and most neglected forces in the built environment — through his TED talks, books and consultancy work. His experience shapes the Sownd Certification framework and keeps us honest about what the standard actually needs to achieve.
Delivery Partners
Alertify
Technology Partner
Alertify makes real-time noise and environmental monitoring technology used across hospitality and property worldwide. They’re the measurement backbone of Sownd Certification — turning acoustic standards into something you can track, prove and report on.
Moodsonic
Technology Partner
Moodsonic designs intelligent soundscapes that transform how spaces feel. Their technology ensures certified spaces don’t just remove what’s harmful — they add what’s missing, actively supporting wellbeing through considered, intentional sound.
Oscar Acoustics
Acoustic Solutions Partner
Oscar Acoustics is the UK’s leading acoustic solutions provider operating for over 40 years and with thousands of projects delivered across sectors.
RNID
Partner and Beneficiary
RNID is the UK’s leading organisation for people who are deaf or have hearing loss or tinnitus. They keep our standards grounded in real lived experience, and a percentage of every Sownd Certification goes directly to supporting their work.
ADHD UK
Partner and Beneficiary
Noise sensitivity is one of the most common and least talked-about challenges for people with ADHD. ADHD UK helps us build spaces that work for neurodivergent people as a starting point, not a retrofit — and a percentage of every certification supports their work too.
Want to join as delivery partner?
Drop us a line at partnerships@sownd.co.uk
Working With
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