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1. Spatial division of the office - designated areas for phone calls, focused work, walkways and technical equipment
2. Room dividers - office partitions, acoustic panels and desk dividers
3. Room-in-room solutions and sound insulating phone booths
4. Clear rules of conduct in the office
5. Pleasant background noises
1. Use office furnisher as natural sound absorbers
2. Cover walls with posters, acoustic pictures and plants
3. Hang curtains in front of windows and doors or as room dividers
4. Place carpets under walkways and communication areas
5. Cover ceilings with acoustic sails, absorbers or foam
Noise in the office is the main trigger for stress, declining performance and impaired concentration. The trigger is loud ambient noise, which everyone is familiar with from everyday office life: phones ringing, keyboards clattering, all kinds of noises and communication penetrating our ears unfiltered. All the more so if there is a lack of sound absorbers or the right sound insulation. According to studies, as a result of too much noise in the office, the productivity of each individual drops by up to 30% - the willingness to perform decreases, while dissatisfaction at the workplace increases. With this article, we would like to give you tips on how you can improve the room acoustics in your office and thus create a better working atmosphere.
To improve the sound insulation in the office, a distinction must be made between two factors:
Reduction of reverberation times
You certainly know the situation when you are in an empty room and you are talking - your words echo. This "echo effect" makes communication more difficult and reduces speech intelligibility - especially in rooms where people talk a lot and make phone calls. This is because un-wallpapered walls, high ceilings and hard stone floors deflect the reverberation back into the room unfiltered and are the reason for these poor room acoustics. The main reason for this is poor or non-existent sound insulation in the office or the lack of sound absorbers. A solution for better sound insulation in the office can be acoustic elements, but also furniture of any kind: carpets, curtains, chairs, cabinets. Offices must be provided with the above aspects to avoid poor room acoustics.
Minimisation of noise sources
In order to minimise noise sources in the office, it helps to plan the room according to work activities and noise sources, which can be implemented in a mix of acoustic panels, room dividers or room-in-room solutions. In addition, you should define clear rules of conduct together with your colleagues to keep the noise level low. Ideally, you should combine different measures to improve the overall room acoustics. Below we list five measures for minimising noise sources and reducing reverberation times.
A first step towards sound insulation and improvement of room acoustics is planning with the given architecture of the room. Columns or other supporting elements between the individual workstations ensure that conversations overlap less. Corners and angles are suitable for loud equipment or areas for making phone calls because the sound gets trapped here - they are the natural acoustic elements. Now for the workstations: Position desks away from frequently used walkways to the kitchen, copier or conference rooms - so printers or copiers should not be in close proximity to desks. The teams or employees should sit close to each other if they communicate a lot with each other due to their work.
Another step towards better sound insulation in the office is the clear definition of work areas. Here, in addition to the permanent seating area, the addition of two areas has proven to be promoting a good working environment: The creation of communication areas for phone calls and agreements away from the desks, as well as areas for concentrated and undisturbed work. In other words, areas where people are allowed to speak and designated quiet areas. In this way, noise sources can be bundled and better attenuated, resulting in better room acoustics. Equipment with further elements for sound insulation follows in the next paragraph.
Room dividers help to separate the two work areas mentioned above. Office booths and desks in these areas already help as a separation. Additional sound absorbers such as partitions in the office create quiet zones, absorb noise and promote privacy. This makes concentrated work possible in two ways: on the one hand, through the visual separation of the workplaces and more privacy, and on the other hand, through the sound-absorbing function.
Office partitions can consist of simple polystyrene panels, which you can install individually or as a system. However, there are also high-quality sound insulating walls for offices that consist of several layers of sound-absorbing materials.
A more chic alternative to office partitions are acoustic panels made of fleece or felt. Whether used as a partition or wall element, they enhance your office visually and functionally in various colours, fabrics and versions, as they can also be used as a pinboard.
Another way to improve room acoustics and at the same time create additional sound-absorbing surfaces in the office are desk partitions. They create a quiet working area and, in addition to providing visual privacy, allow direct sound to be absorbed. Besides a shortened reverberation time, the reduction of direct sound is, as already mentioned, the most important criterion for better sound protection in the office.
Room-in-room systems create further space for meetings and clarify the division into designated areas, especially in open-plan offices. In addition to permanent installed room-in-room solutions using drywall and glass partitions, there are also mobile meeting rooms. Find out more in this article: Room-in-room solutions for offices.
Soundproof phone booths are another effective solution for more soundproofing and less noise in the office. Suitable for 1 person, they are perfect for phone calls and isolate one of the most annoying sources of noise in the office. They also create privacy and promote focused work. They are the perfect solution for designated communication or quiet work areas. Since they allow for both types of work, soundproof phone booths are a great solution for offices with limited space. When choosing phone booths, the main considerations are sound insulation, comfort and fresh air supply.
In addition to using sound absorbers and acoustic panels, you should formulate rules of conduct in the office together with everyone to keep the noise level in check. Examples are:
If these rules do not help, you can set up a noise light that flashes or emits a sound when the defined noise limit is exceeded. This way, everyone is informed and asked to be quieter.
If nothing more can be done to improve room acoustics and reduce noise sources in the office, even with sound absorbers, acoustic panels or other acoustic elements, or if loud noises (such as construction site noise) are coming from outside, playing soft background sounds over loudspeakers can help in the office space. Studies have shown that pleasant monotonous sounds, such as the sound of rain, ocean waves or birds chirping, help concentration and increase productivity. This often helps to muffle distracting conversations from colleagues or other noises in the office, for example. Another option is to set up permanent white noise speakers or provide noise-cancelling headphones for employees.
As a rule of thumb for reducing reverberation and echo effects in the office, at least 2/3 of all surfaces should be covered with sound absorbers. The following 5 measures show how this contributes to better sound protection in the office:
When furnishing an open-plan office, furniture serves as a natural sound absorber. Place existing shelves and cupboards between the individual workstations. If you use bookshelves or file cabinets as room dividers - this furniture already absorbs a lot of noise. Furniture made of noise-absorbing materials can be also very advantageous - this includes wooden furniture and office chairs with fabric covers. They absorb sound better and contribute more to sound insulation than furniture made of glass, ceramics and steel. In addition, furniture can be equipped with acoustically effective elements such as perforated layers or felt panels, which in turn absorb sound waves instead of reflecting them.
Other furniture that absorb sound and at the same time increase the quality of the air are indoor plants. Due to their volume and texture, plants are the perfect sound absorbers. They create a natural sound insulation. The right location and a high number of plants effectively reduce reverberation. Plants between desks not only absorb noise, but also provide a good indoor climate.
While a bare wall throws the sound back into the room, an illustrated wall prevents such reverberation. Ideally, the pictures hang in the direction of speech. Even simple posters or art prints on the walls can make a difference and absorb sound. Especially in the medium and high frequency range, acoustic or moss pictures are useful to reduce voice clutter and improve speech intelligibility. Sound-absorbing pictures can also be purchased. They are usually somewhat thicker because they are made of different sound-absorbing materials.
Curtains can be hung in front of doors, windows and walls, but also freely in the room and are one of the most effective and cheapest solutions for sound insulation in the office. They are also particularly useful when the doors and windows in a building are older and not up to date in terms of sound insulation. Felt curtains are particularly suitable due to their increased absorption surface.
Acoustic and sound insulating curtains also serve to reduce noise in the workplace and are a flexible and versatile alternative to structural changes. They reduce direct sound in open-plan offices and are ideal sound absorbers.
Hard floors made of stone, wood or ceramic tiles, for example, have a negative effect on the room acoustics in the office. With regard to sound insulation, it therefore makes sense to pay attention to the materials used in the building when selecting and designing the office. Vinyl floors with impact sound underlay or carpets, on the other hand, are practical ways of keeping the noise level in check. If it is no longer possible to redesign the floor, laying out carpets can also help, especially where there are walkways and communication areas.
Ceilings also have an influence on room acoustics. Especially in open-plan offices with concrete ceilings, sound waves are reflected back into the office and amplify the noise. There are creative kinds of sound absorbers for the ceiling, that help to reduce the noise.
Acoustic ceiling tiles and acoustic foams can be retrofitted - the construction effort here is minimal. Acoustic tiles are often clicked or glued into the ceiling with simple fixation via a rail. The advantage of ceiling absorbers is that they are particularly unobtrusive because they are outside the field of vision and thus do not attract any attention
Similar to the acoustic ceilings are ceiling canopies. However, these are usually covered with acoustic textile fabric and available in different color variations. The design of such acoustic ceiling sails can be varied, so that the acoustic elements for the office ceiling can be easily adapted to the ambience of the room. Acoustic ceiling sails and absorbers can be installed either hanging with the help of ropes or with magnetic holders. They are available in different shapes from classic sails to suspended cylinders and cubes.
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