Office Acoustic Panels: Do I Need Them?

George Cook

Sat Jun 01 2024

Open-plan offices, call centres, and video conference rooms share a common challenge: excess noise that impacts concentration and drains productivity.

Hard surfaces in modern workspaces allow sound to reverberate freely. Voices bounce around from all directions, making it difficult to tune in or out of conversations or concentrate on calls.

Well placed acoustic panels can make a tremendous difference by absorbing sound rather than reflecting it. Panels tuned to target mid-range frequencies associated with human speech help dampen distracting crosstalk so employees can focus better.

The goal is to achieve balanced acoustics using cost-effective panels strategically placed in problem areas.

With some guidance, you can easily tune your workspace for improved productivity.

Why your open plan office environment may be too noisy

If your open-plan office constantly buzzes with ambient noise, making it hard to hear calls or focus on tasks, poor acoustics are likely to blame.

Here are the leading problems faced by office and commercial spaces:

Reflective surfaces: Modern offices often feature expansive hard surfaces like polished concrete floors, glass interior walls, and exposed ceilings. These materials reflect and amplify noises rather than absorbing them.
Densely Packed Work areas: Some offices provide tightly packed desks, meaning even subtle noises like phones, keyboard clicks, and discussions can leak across the environment.
Mechanical Noise: HVAC systems, coffee machines, and bathroom hand dryers can introduce bothersome background noises.
Exterior Noise: Traffic sounds from nearby roads, emergency sirens passing by, construction projects around the building, etc, contribute to an already noisy interior environment.
Different Departments in the Same Space: Locating a boisterous sales team who is always on the phone next to the accounting department can often cause problems.

In most scenarios, strategically placed acoustic panels absorb troublesome sounds, optimising your space for focus, productivity, and, of course, comfort.

Why acoustic panels are a game-changer for offices

Acoustic panels are panels specially designed for controlling audio. They don’t have to be attached to every wall or surface.

In fact, even sprinkling a few well-placed panels around the ceiling can interrupt sound paths, making a huge difference in overall audio quality.

Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of acoustic panels for office spaces:

1. Boosting staff productivity

We’re all probably familiar with maintaining concentration amid distractions, but how does this affect staff productivity?

One study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology looked specifically at the impacts of noise and distractions in the office:

Excessive noise also produces physiological stress reactions in employees, as shown by increased hormone (Cortisol) levels in lab studies. This demonstrates the measurable impacts of noise on employee health and well-being over time.
The research found sound levels in open offices far exceed recommended guidelines (i.e. 45–50 dB), making work difficult. In Organization B, sound levels reached 62 dB – well beyond the limit for distraction-free work.
By preventing sustained exposure to loud noise above 55 dB, negative outcomes like stress, lack of concentration, and strained communication were minimised.

If you want to enhance your employees’ productivity and well-being, noise control is the key.

2. Containing noise distraction

Open-plan offices facilitate collaboration but also allow conversations to reverberate readily. Have you ever tried getting your head down to work while people shout and laugh in a nearby room?! It’s a nightmare!

Excessive ambient noise hinders concentration productivity and saps mental stamina over time.

Strategic acoustic panel placement helps by:

Creating distinct sound zones to contain noise within lively collaboration areas and stopping it from spreading elsewhere.
Mounting panels at intervals to intercept noise travel across open floors.
Balancing sound absorption to maintain a vibrant, energised office ambience without impairing individual productivity.

3. Boosting conference call clarity

As video calls become ubiquitous in day-to-day work, optimising spaces for smooth meetings and discussions is essential.

Your client or customer won’t appreciate you shouting over ambient background noise or echoing like you’re taking a call from a bathroom.

Acoustic panels help here by:

Bringing reverberation times in line with those recommended by Video conferencing equipment manufacturers (Cisco, Logitech, Microsoft etc.)
Absorbing excessive ambient noise like ventilation systems to prevent distraction.
Eliminating the need for microphones to go in to a hyper-sensitive mode.
Improving audio quality, so staff can lower the volumes and increase privacy.

4. Cultivating professional credibility

Uncontrolled noise can cultivate a chaotic, stressful workspace that severely diminishes productivity.

So having rooms with great acoustics helps convey professionalism to visiting clients and stakeholders.

Optimal placement of acoustic panels in the office

Deciding where to place acoustic panels in an office is a strategic task. As mentioned, you don’t need to plaster every surface with acoustic panels.

The main options include:

Zeroing in on sources and reflections: Finding where to place acoustic panels starts with pinpointing the sources of noise. That could be a wall-facing speaker, a large glass window, or even the area around a busy coffee machine. Panels placed near these noise sources can drastically reduce their disruptive impact.
Ceiling panels in open spaces: Ceiling panels are particularly effective in large, open-plan offices. Their placement overhead captures sound waves as they ascend, helping to reduce noise before it can spread across the room. This makes them a top choice for managing sound in spacious environments.
Wall treatments in compact areas: Wall panels intercept noise across the room while absorbing rather than reflecting it. They absorb sound right at the level of people talking and working. This helps to dampen office noise right at its source.
Ensuring even distribution: Effective sound management isn’t about one large panel in a single spot. It’s about spreading out the sound absorption throughout the office. By distributing smaller panels around the space, ideally at the height people work, whether sitting or standing, you create a uniformly quieter environment.

Effectiveness of acoustic panels in offices

Do acoustic panels really work? The short answer is a resounding yes, especially when it comes to tackling reverberation issues.
However, not all panels are created equal, and their effectiveness hinges on their acoustic rating.

Reputable installers should provide you with this information, including detailed data sheets from the manufacturer. If in doubt, contact the manufacturer directly for the lowdown on their panels’ performance.

Regarding acoustic ratings, Class A and Class B panels are the gold standard, absorbing up to 90% and 80% of sound waves, respectively.

When shopping for acoustic panels, beware of style over substance – some panels are more decorative than functional, offering lower sound absorption at a higher price point.

Summing up

With the right guidance, even noisy open-plan offices can be transformed into quieter, calmer environments without major renovations.
Strategically placed, professionally designed acoustic panels absorb problematic sounds rather than reflecting them.

Office acoustic panels can be mounted on walls or ceilings, configured as free-standing room dividers, or even integrated into custom architectural features.
If you need clarification on what acoustic treatments would work best for your unique office layout and problem noises, our knowledgeable consultants can help.

Not only can they advise cost-effective solutions that fit your budget, but they also offer free acoustic assessments of your current space.