Hall & Sound: How to Improve Office Acoustics

Does working in the office feel like shouting "Echo?!" in a mountain cave? Then it's probably because the rooms are not acoustically optimized. The importance of good room acoustics in the office should not be underestimated.

Too much noise disturbs concentration and productivity, especially when it echoes off the walls. In open-space offices, in particular, reverberation and excessive noise can become a problem. However, this problem can be easily solved by strategically placing some items. Here are a few tips and tricks to improve office acoustics.

Acoustic Panels

A good option for optimizing room acoustics is acoustic panels. These are ultra-lightweight panels that can be attached to walls or ceilings. Because the panels are so light, hanging them is very easy. There's no need to drill into the ceiling; you can simply stick the panels or attach them to the walls. The online shop Inwerk from Düsseldorf sells acoustic panels in various colors and designs, so they can also serve as decoration.

Acoustic Foam

Acoustic foam provides particularly good sound insulation. Nubbed foam is very well suited for this purpose. The foam elements are very light and can be attached to any surfaces and shapes with glue or tape.

Room Dividers

Room dividers are not only suitable for dividing rooms, as the name suggests, but can also help to reduce noise. It's not necessary to completely separate the rooms, as even low room dividers are sufficient to break the sound. Especially in large open-space offices, they are a good solution. The Frankfurt-based company Silentrooms manufactures creative room dividers that can be integrated into various offices.

Furniture

Large furniture such as sofas and cabinets, as well as carpets and curtains, dampen sound. It is particularly effective to arrange the furniture as asymmetrically as possible in the office. This way, the sound is forced to bounce in different directions. One of the most effective pieces of furniture for better office acoustics is sound-insulated phone booths. Phone booths not only block out the annoying external noise, allowing you to make phone calls and work undisturbed, but also prevent colleagues from being disturbed by individual phone calls. The phone booths from the Berlin-based company mute-labs are not only well-designed but also relatively affordable.

Plants

Plants not only look beautiful, they also improve air quality and are ideal allies in the fight against sound! The leaves and wood of plants absorb sound, thus reducing reverberation in rooms. The size and texture of the surface, as well as the number of plants, have a significant impact on how much sound can be absorbed. Plants with rough bark and large leaves are particularly suitable for this purpose.

To achieve the greatest effect, plants should be distributed throughout the room rather than just in one place. It is best to place plants in the corners and along the edges of the walls, as they can catch the bouncing sound.

Moss

Another option is moss on the walls. Yes, you read that right: moss. The benefits of reindeer moss or Icelandic moss are numerous: it can not only serve as beautiful decoration to bring more nature into the four office walls, but it also purifies the air, requires no special care, sunlight, or watering, and most importantly, it absorbs sound and improves room acoustics.

Background Noise

Why not combat noise with noise? Perhaps this sounds somewhat contradictory, but studies have shown that background noise has a positive effect on productivity and creativity – it just has to be the right kind. Playing pleasant background noises such as white noise, or the sound of rain and ocean waves, can be relaxing and help with concentration. This makes noise and other sounds seem less loud and distracting.

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What experiences have you had in optimizing your office acoustics? Write to us at hello@setting.io