Open-plan offices are often criticized for being noisy and distracting. Coworkers’ conversations in particular can make it difficult to focus. Until now, most assessments of office noise have relied mainly on sound pressure level (LAeq). But sound level alone doesn’t tell the whole story. At Forum Acusticum/ Euronoise in Málaga, Valtteri Hongisto, from Turku University […]
open plan
Irrelevant speech makes perceived workload higher
Irrelevant speech, or background conversations, has been shown to impair cognitive performance and cause physiological stress. Recently published research demonstrated that working during task-irrelevant speech not only increases stress, as measured by heart rate variability, and reduces accuracy but also increases annoyance and perceived workload. Method Thirty participants performed two cognitive tasks (n-back and serial […]
Tackling acoustic challenges in open-plan offices
Increase in open-plan solutions Open-plan offices have gradually become a preferred model for companies to use, mainly to encourage spontaneous interactions between coworkers, but also because of the aesthetics around a big open room. Further, there is an economic benefit of having as many workstations as possible in fewer square meters. However, these benefits often […]
Acoustical effects of face masks on Speech Perception
The recent pandemic gave rise to the use of face masks, however, most people found it difficult to wear a mask. As per recent research in 2020 and 2021: However, the global rise in cases proved that masks helped to reduce the cases and prevent fatalities. It also gave mental satisfaction to professionals returning to […]
Acoustic privacy and screens – What are the technical details?
How do you improve acoustic privacy in open offices? This might be the most important question for anyone designing or managing open office spaces as speech noise is the primary contributor to distractions for office workers [1]. The answer is that the right acoustic features must be in place, from the very base build of […]
Design dive: Open offices, part 2 – Geometry
Designing good office acoustics is notoriously hard. We give you the exact guidance you need for this task in this blog post series. What are the primary factors for acoustic design you should consider when working with open offices? How should you approach the task of designing or improving the sound environment in an open-plan […]
ISO 22955: Acoustic quality of open offices
A new international standard was recently released focusing on one of the most complex indoor sound environments, the open office. Delivering you clear instructions for creating great acoustics in demanding environments is one of our main objectives, so we are happy to update you on the new ISO 22955. So what is its scope and […]
Design Dive: Open Offices – Part 1
Is the open office a thing of the past? How can verbal communication be the main reason for its existence and simultaneously its biggest acoustic problem? We give you the answers and the solutions in this series on acoustic design of open offices. In this three-part Design Dive series, we, as always, bring you both […]
Creating workplaces that employees will love – Workplace Trends conference in Copenhagen
Workplace Trends conferences (link) look at the up-coming real trends in working spaces for the next 10-20 years. Since the first conference in 2002 they have been among the first to look at the now trending subjects of wellness, productivity, happiness, psychology, psychoacoustics, biophilia, agile & flexible working, cellular vs open plan, to name but a few. These […]
Euronoise 2018 – Reduce Noise to Improve Life
This year Euronoise was held in lovely Crete (close to the Knossos Palace) from the 27th to 31st of May – and in the impressive surroundings more than 700 delegates from all over the world attended more than 50 structured sessions in total. Room acoustics were on the agenda every conference day and this article aims to […]
