There’s more to office design than meets the eye. It’s all well and good designing a space that’s visually appealing, but when your team starts to use it on a daily basis, what they hear will matter just as much as what they can see. Allow us to explain…
The importance of office acoustics
What’s the role of an office? First and foremost, it’s a place of work – so it has to foster creativity, collaboration and concentration. Those working in it have to be able to focus on what they’re doing, easily communicate with one another and have the freedom to carry out their tasks without being interrupted or distracted.
Awareness of workplace wellbeing issues has risen dramatically in recent years too, so it’s vital that an office design takes these into consideration. People need to feel comfortable, secure and relaxed at work.
To tackle all of these challenges, office space planners need to have an awareness not just of the visual aspect of their design, but the acoustics. Excessive noise can impede on privacy, disrupt employees, break their concentration and blunt productivity significantly… all of which has a knock-on effect on wellbeing too.
When you consider all of that, it’s clear just how important office acoustics are – but how can they be improved?
Tackling noise in the workplace
Fortunately, our many years of experience in the world of office space planning, interior design for offices and fit outs means we’ve got plenty of tricks up our sleeves to keep unwanted noise to a minimum.
- Careful space planning: By placing teams carefully and splitting offices up into zones (with quieter focus and break areas), noise is kept to a minimum.
- Installing partitions: Sometimes, particularly in smaller offices where space is at a premium, partitions can be used to great effect to prevent sound from travelling, boosting privacy and allowing everyone to focus on the task at hand. They don’t have to spoil the look of the space, either. Desk-mounted screens are a popular choice, and we can also supply bespoke noise absorbing panels that can be hung or wall mounted. These can even be used to make feature walls!
- Correct office furniture procurement: Installing soft, noise-absorbing furniture around the office not only creates a home-from-home feel, but keeps the place quieter – it’s a win-win! Ceiling and floor tiles with acoustic properties are also available, as are white noise systems to help teams focus.
- Embracing nature: Plants not only help with acoustics, but employee wellbeing. Staff can get involved in looking after them, helping to create a home-from-home feel.
Speak to our office fit-out specialists
Need to get noise under control in your workplace? Whether you’re planning a complete office redesign or simply want to add some furniture to your current space, our office fit-out specialists are here to help. Contact us today to learn more about how we could help your business.
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