The behaviour of sound within a room is affected by many factors.

  • The choice of materials: glass, concrete, wood or tiled floors and metal ceilings all have poor acoustic properties
  • The trend to build partition walls from raised floor to underside of the ceiling, which leads to poor speech privacy
  • Low noise heat and ventilation and effective external glazing, which reduce the natural background sound to the level of a library

Is noise a problem?

Too quiet or too loud? Disruptive noise can be an issue for employees engaged in normal, everyday activities such as reading, writing or analysis. The noise causes a distraction, making it difficult for employees to concentrate on tasks, causing stress and reducing productivity. Just as distracting is an acoustic environment resembling a library, with voices carrying further and seeming louder.

Lack of speech privacy is another common issue. Adjoining workers' conversations can become unintentionally distracting to the casual listener and in confidential environments this lack of privacy may result in breeches of security.

Categorising these issues into three main categories help determine the best course of action to take.

Speech privacy issues

Typical in cellular or closed office work spaces

Noise and concentration issues

Typical in open-plan work spaces

Combined: speech privacy, noise and concentration issues

Typical in work spaces where closed offices and open-plan areas are in close proximity

Click here for Case Studies. Our real life examples show theory turned into practice. Take a look at our case studies to gain a better understanding of solutions appropriate to your situation. Click here for Sound Solutions. The best way to manage acoustics is through a combination of absorption, blocking and cover solutions - we call it the ABC of acoustics.