How to reduce unwanted sound in your workplace
Reducing unwanted sound in an office is an effective way to increase productivity, thanks to reduced distractions from noise.
The correct soundproofing solutions can enhance the feel of an office and won’t take away from the existing atmosphere. But to ensure adequate noise control for your office, you need to work with a skilled professional such as Avenue Interior Systems.
What is the end goal of office acoustics?
While open-plan office designs do improve productivity, poor office acoustics can cause problems. Excess ambient noise, made worse by excessive reverberation in your office, can make it difficult for workers to communicate effectively with each other or even to concentrate fully on the task at hand.
That is why a common goal of acoustic treatment in an office environment is to reduce reverberation, reduce noise distractions and thereby increase productivity.
The importance of sealing office doors and windows
Sound is like water in a sense: it can manipulate its way through any crack or crevice. That’s why it’s so important to look for ‘leakage’ when soundproofing an office.
Remember to seal apertures like office doors and windows for the best acoustic performance to prevent sound from leaking through them.
Soundproofing the office ceiling
The focus of office acoustics improvements is often on the walls. Yet forgetting the “wall” above your head could be a mistake!
Since sound may leak over the top via the ceiling space, it’s important to install soundproofing solutions to the ceiling too.
Remember not to overdo your office acoustics!
While insufficient soundproofing can harm your office productivity, too much or the wrong kind of acoustic treatment can also harm an office space. For example, if you perfectly seal a room, ensuring no sound can transfer out of the space but don’t add absorptive panels, you’ll be left with a room that is highly reverberant and unusable. Likewise, if you install too much absorption, you may be left with a room that feels cold and acoustically ‘dead’.
Find out more about improving your office acoustics
Finding the right balance between too much soundproofing and not enough usually requires the input of acoustics professionals. Once your acoustic solution is installed, you can look forward to an increase in office productivity.