Acoustic consultants in Melbourne that are thinking outside the box

Meet Damien van Raaphorst, Team Leader in Melbourne

With experience of working both at home and abroad, Damien van Raaphorst is a natural leader and one of our shining acoustic consultants in Melbourne.

Having joined Resonate Consultants in 2013 as a Senior Consultant, Damien has progressed to an Associate Director and now enjoys the title of Team Lead with leadership responsibilities. Beginning in Sydney and later working in Canberra, Damien has also worked in the United Kingdom, gaining experience and insight as an Acoustic Consultant with a multinational company. Upon returning to Australian soil, Damien sought a career in Melbourne with Resonate Consultants.

‘I knew from the outset that the company’s focus was on client services,’ Damien said. ‘The opportunity to be more focused on clients and undertake more face-to-face interactions with clients was appealing,’ he added.

As an experienced acoustic consultant for an infrastructure consulting firm, Damien brought a strong prioritisation background to his initial role in our acoustics engineering firm. ‘There’s value in getting your head around tasks early so that you don’t wrongly assume how long it’s going to take to do them,’ Damien explained. This approach means that you can provide clients accurate deadlines, and organisational efficiencies can improve.

Transitioning from Senior Consultant into the Team Lead role in 2017, Damien combined his knack for prioritisation with communication skills. How do you help a team overcome challenges? For Damien, it’s through communication and ‘instilling in the team that there’s always a way to do things or overcome challenges.

Since moving into the Associate Director position, Damien balances the role with being the Team Leader in Melbourne. A role that is often guided by our foundational values.

‘We are a united team. I’m big on encouraging the team to seek different opinions and work with different people throughout the business and across each state,’ Damien said.

Another core value that contributes to our acoustical services firm being recognised for our award-winning client service is being distinctive. For Damien, this occurs naturally as a function of the business rather than something that needs to be worked on. ‘We don’t feel bound to how people have done things in the past. We are genuinely progressive as a business by listening to alternate views and accepting better ways in order to improve,’ Damien explained. ‘If it results in a better outcome for clients, we are always open to changing.’

While Damien works to unite and empower a team currently experiencing remote working arrangements, he also remains committed to his own speciality area— building acoustics. He is currently working on the new Australian Federal Police Headquarters in Melbourne which is nearing completion. The project has required complex acoustic design in some areas which has been a rewarding but challenging experience.

Damien balances his responsibilities with utilising his vast working background, looking at projects and problems holistically. Both to achieve the right outcome and to show junior staff members how to take into account the different facets of acoustic work.

After more than a decade in the industry, Damien is still passionate about acoustics. ‘The situations you can find yourself in when working on a project, there’s never a dull moment,’ Damien said. ‘As a consultant, you could be in hi-vis down on a construction site, or you could be in a suit at a VCAT hearing as an expert witness. We may have a desk-heavy office environment, but we also get to take measurements out in a paddock, in a factory or on a sewage farm.’

His experience working on everything from construction and industrial noise control, and speech privacy to mechanical ventilation noise control and architectural acoustics makes Damien a great asset and one of the leading acoustic consultants in Melbourne. He particularly enjoys working with clients, collaborating on projects with colleagues and providing leadership to a growing team.

When Damien began his career at Resonate Consultants almost nine years ago, there were two people in the Melbourne office. Today, there are 13 employees who have recently moved to a new office location in the CBD. With this in mind, Damien always likes to keep one eye on the future. ‘It would be nice to sustain the kind of demand that requires further business and employee growth.’

University of Melbourne – Werribee Development

While Damien plays an integral role in Resonate Consultants’ operations, he also has an important role at home as a father to two young children. In between family time, you can find him attending the footy and cheering on Hawthorn.

If you require expert acoustic consultants in Melbourne, contact Damien and team today.