Acoustic Solutions For Offices – Improving Creativity and Productivity Though Good Acoustics.

Today’s workplace is likely to have more open space, lower barriers, more shared spaces for collaboration, fewer assigned seats and all of the distracting challenges that come along with them.

When the density of employees increases, speech distractions increase correspondingly. Workplace blogs are full of proclamations that these trends are ruining productivity. In some cases, this is no doubt true. Every organisation has a different way of working. If space is not designed to allow people to do the specific work that they are responsible for, then the workplace will not be a success.

But when space is designed to work for the organisation, it can be a beautiful, productive workplace. One of the common elements of successful open workplaces is attention to acoustics. A few key considerations need to be examined to create a high-performing acoustical environment. People talk. When they talk, they are little megaphones of sound energy.

That sound travels from the source and bounces off of every surface around them. By adding acoustically absorptive materials, those reflections are reduced and sound does not have as much influence on surrounding co-workers. Having a group of heavy phone users located under a ceiling that is built with painted dry wall, exposed concrete or metal is a formula for distraction.

Similarly, walls of glass provide a powerful reflector for noise. Sound energy has nowhere to go but into the ears of the surrounding people. Adding a good acoustical ceiling baffles, suspended acoustic absorbers and or Echo ceiling panels will reduce the reflected sound and allow a much more comfortable environment that helps improve both creativity and productivity.