When creating an office, both the office interior design and office acoustic design should work in unison.

That’s because your working environment has a direct impact on:

• Focus
• Productivity
• Mood & wellbeing
• Communication
• Staff retention

Unfortunately, the new trend for sleek, open-plan offices presents a noisy challenge for workers, and especially for offices where acoustic design is not fit for purpose. These design flaws then have a negative impact on the above.

In this article, we draw from our decades of office design experience to explore the most common acoustic problems our clients approach us with, along with solutions.

Why are acoustics important?

Poor acoustic design means increased noise levels, more frequent distractions and broken concentration.

In fact, broken concentration has a bigger impact than you think, with studies suggesting it takes an average of 23 minutes to re-establish concentration once it’s broken. This is a significant leech on the overall productivity, focus and effectiveness of your workforce.

This makes tailored acoustic design an important factor that will provide great return on investment by supporting a happier, healthier and more productive workforce. Click here to read our in-depth article on why acoustics are important in an office.

5 common acoustic problems

The most frequent acoustic problems our clients approach us with include:

• It’s too noisy: Sleek, modern and open-plan offices are more popular than ever. While this looks good, it may not always sound good. In addition, these ultra-modern offices also tend to champion hard floors, clean walls and lack soft furnishings. Lots of people coupled with lots of reflective services mean that sound waves can bounce and reflect more easily, leading to a noisy office with distracting reverberation and echo. The solution to this issue will depend on your individual situation, but our consultants may suggest the incorporation of soft materials, the establishment of room dividers to disrupt noise flow, or fitting sound absorption panels.
• It’s too quiet: Yes, you read that right. When an office is too quiet, any sound that does occur is far more jarring and distracting compared to when there is background noise. A technique to overcome this could be the inclusion of white noise systems.
• There isn’t enough privacy: Both visual and acoustic privacy are important for offices, as lack of privacy can be highly distracting for employees. From delicate chats to focus-driven brainstorms, a quiet and private space away from the main office is essential. Booths, office meeting pods and office meeting rooms should always be designed with acoustic privacy in mind, something that our professionals can assist you with during the design phase and afterwards.
• Noise is travelling between spaces: Depending on the building design and materials, sound may be able to travel through walls, between floors, from outside to inside, and even via the AC ducts. These issues should ideally be dealt with at the design stage by incorporating insulation and partitions. If you are past the design phase, our experts will make alternative suggestions. For example, turning the AC on can help mask sounds in the ducts themselves, while acoustic panels and the inclusion of soft materials can help absorb sound waves.
• Different people and tasks require different noise levels: Some people love a bit of background noise, while some require near silence to concentrate fully. Likewise, different tasks will need different levels of concentration, and therefore, different levels of background noise. Offering your employees this range and flexibility to move between noisier and quieter zones is an excellent way to design an office around the changing needs of the workday and the personal preferences of each employee. Introducing this versatility will look different for each office, and could include the incorporation of office partitions, the establishment of meeting rooms, creating breakout areas, or introducing enclosed or open privacy pods.

So, what’s the solution?

When it comes to office acoustics, every office will need its own approach.

Our team at Arc Business Interiors has decades of experience, designing and fitting offices that are tailored to the people that use them. We always design with both aesthetics and acoustics in mind, taking a bespoke approach to each client and their individual objectives and business goals.

When designing solutions, the ABCD principle of acoustics can be followed:

• Absorption: Materials are incorporated into the design that absorb soundwaves, rather than reflecting it back into the space. Usually, good office design will involve balancing hard, reflective surfaces with softer, more absorptive materials to meet both aesthetic and acoustic requirements.

• Blocking: Establishing barriers between different sections of the workspace is an effective way to block or muffle sound travelling through the air. Office partitions, walls and acoustic office screens are most commonly used for this purpose.

• Cover: By ‘cover’ we refer to the technique of creating a background masking sound to reduce the distraction caused by one-off noises or office chatter. This sound system will play a constant white noise to ‘cover’ other intrusive sounds.

• Diffusion: Soundwaves can also be diffused to reduce echoes and decrease noise levels. Rather than reflecting directly off a surface, diffusion methods work to ‘scatter’ the soundwaves and lessen their impact on the listener.

We work closely with our clients, always suggesting honest and innovative solutions to your individual acoustics problems. In some cases, we may also hire the services of an acoustician to work in partnership with our interior designers to ensure you get an office that is fit for the future.

Here at Arc Business Interiors, we create bespoke workspaces that meet your needs today and tomorrow. Support staff and promote productivity thanks to our tailored approach to office design and office fit-outs. We serve customers throughout the East Midlands — including Leicester, Loughborough, Derby, Nottingham, Northampton, Sheffield and Coventry — making sure your office accommodates the needs of a flourishing workforce. Contact us today.