Acoustics & the future of office design

Concentration is the driver of acoustic design; much in the same way collaboration gave rise to open plan working. There’s been a significant shift towards accommodating concentration to aid productivity, but also wellbeing. Our survey of 2,000 office workers found that 33% couldn’t find somewhere quiet to work. Just think how you feel listening to your colleague chatting loudly on their mobile while you’re in the middle of writing an important email or report; it’s stressful. On top of this, research shows it takes an average of 23 minutes to refocus after an interruption, and alarmingly the average time between interruptions is only 11 minutes.

There are two models for your concentrative layout – distributed and zonal. The distributed model sees areas for concentrating dotted around the open plan, while the zonal is essentially the office equivalent of a quiet carriage on a train. In both of these scenarios, etiquette for usage needs to be clear and well communicated. If adhered to, everyone should be able to find a space perfectly suited to the task at hand without hampering the productivity of others.