Improve Your Office Acoustics
Many modern offices are designed using an open plan layout and for good reason: this type of space is ideal for building staff relationships, collaborating on projects and making staff more approachable.
However, with the considerable size of some open plan offices, the noise within these spaces can reverberate across the workplace, creating a distracting environment. This is heightened by modern office equipment producing less ‘white noise’, which used to help mask background disturbances.
Using our experience in office design and our understanding of office acoustics, we’re sharing effective ways you can reduce noise pollution in your office. Employees who work in acoustically comfortable environments produce higher-quality work and experience better overall wellbeing. For further information on noise management, the Health and Safety Executive provides extensive resources on workplace noise reduction.
Wall and Ceiling Mounted Acoustics
The first thing to consider is ceiling mounted acoustic panels, which hang just below the ceiling, whether it’s solid plasterboard, a concrete soffit, or more commonly, a suspended ceiling. Not only do these panels improve acoustic performance within an office, but they also offer a range of design options. Available in various shapes and colours, they can even feature artwork, ensuring a seamless fit with your office style whilst adding an extra layer of visual interest.
Acoustic panels aren’t limited to ceiling placement as wall mounted options are also available. By selecting matching or contrasting shapes, colours, and designs, you can add another dimension to your space whilst effectively reducing background noises. Wall mounted panels can be especially useful when ceiling heights prove to be restrictive.
Desk Mounted Screen and Space Division
We all need desks or semi-private areas to work in, so another effective way to enhance acoustic protection is by adding desk mounted screens or space division to your workspace. Free standing screens can also be integrated to offer additional flexibility. These desk partitions are a great way to break up the open areas and create more fluid and multifunctional spaces. As with other sound management solutions, acoustic desk dividers come in different shapes and colours, allowing you to accentuate a particular design for branding or zone areas within your office.
For hot desking or co-working spaces, it’s possible to create more isolated individual workspaces that provide private areas for productive work during shorter bursts between meetings or appointments. As with the solutions mentioned above, these acoustic workstations can be customised with various shapes, sizes and finishes to fit within any space.
Booth Seating
In addition to screens, office booth seating or collaboration seating can be used within open environments to break up the space, offering both dedicated breakout areas and informal meeting spaces. When effectively positioned, these areas contribute to a welcoming and thoughtfully designed working environment for staff and visitors alike, helping to minimise distractions.
Office Pods
Not all workspaces have ample space for large meeting rooms, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy areas within your open-plan office where you can escape the noise and have a private conversation or meeting.
We are seeing a rise in the popularity of acoustic pods for creating quiet spaces within the open plan environment. Another benefit of these pods is that they are fully demountable and relocatable plus provide another design opportunity to enhance your working area.
Sound Masking
More frequently than you may expect, one of the more effective solutions to improve acoustic quality in a space is to add a background level of noise to replace the ‘white noise’ that used to come from office equipment.
Sound masking systems work by making sounds that you would otherwise hear from a distance indistinguishable from the other background noise in the office space. This helps reduce distractions by masking noises that would otherwise be noticeable.
These systems can be hidden behind a suspended ceiling and controlled and adjusted to produce the correct level of masking for any given environment once installed. For more on sound masking solutions, the Institute of Acoustics provides valuable resources on sound management strategies.
Conclusion
As with most things, there is rarely one solution that solves the problem and office acoustics are no exception. Over the years, we’ve found that a mixed approach often delivers the best results and may involve making adjustments or adding elements to your office space, depending on the specific issues you need to address.
If you’d like any further advice or guidance on office acoustics, or if you or a team member have any specific issues, please contact us to arrange a call or no obligation visit so we can advise on the best solution for you.