How Soundproofing Office Walls Play Important Role in Aiding Comfort

Open floor plans are all the craze in office configurations. Experts point to the increased levels of collaboration and relationship building that they encourage. From a purely financial standpoint, they also boast reduced construction costs.

There’s a downside to all or any of this openness, however. It’s noisy! Fortunately, there are steps you'll fancy keep that noise to a minimum, regardless of what your office layout is.
Why Bother Soundproofing Office walls?

When an environment is just too loud, it can have a detrimental effect on productivity. Consistent with one study, a loud office space can inhibit productivity by 66%.

Not only does productivity suffer, but your staff can feel the consequences also. An excessive amount of noise can reduce employee satisfaction and harm their health. In Germany, a study found that prolonged exposure to 65 decibels (the equivalent of a classroom or open office floor plan) can increase someone’s pulse to heart-attack levels.

Soundproofing won’t eliminate all the noise in an environment, but it can dampen it to healthier levels and stop employees from complaining that they can’t hear themselves think.
Another, often overlooked, reason to soundproof an office space has got to do with other people’s impressions. If you host clients or try to draw in talent, people visiting your company should be greeted with knowledgeable hum round the office, not a cacophonic symphony rivalling a playground.

Over the years, soundproofing solutions have evolved, and you've got more choices than ever when it involves reducing office noise. Here are some ideas to consider:

Acoustic Panels:

These absorb sound sort of a sponge in large spaces. Acoustic panels are great for open office plans where sound can bounce around and appear to magnify. They easily mount on a wall, a bit like a painting or they will be suspended from the ceiling. They will even be made to seem like art and may be made in any shape, size or design configuration, so they’re often considered functional art.

Sound Masking:

This method adds sound to the environment, which serves to make noise other sounds around you. It’s a sort of ambient noise delivered through a loudspeaker. The noise has an equivalent frequency as human speech, and you'll choose pink noise, noise, and other sorts of frequencies. It’s quite like camouflage for sound.

Soundproofing Paint:

This invention is comparatively new however it’s an efficient and affordable thanks to reduce sound from traveling between offices. Soundproofing paint, like the merchandise from Sound Guard is a simple and non-invasive solution for increasing the STC rating of a shared office wall.

Carpet and Upholstery:

Large open spaces tend to bounce and magnify sound. Upholstered items like furniture and carpet can absorb sound and keep a neighbourhood quieter.

If you’re creating a replacement space, it’s helpful to seem at not only the planning and functionality but also the sound. We recommend that you simply start by evaluating your current needs and business model. Does your business believe people being on the phone throughout most of the day? They’ll need separate offices. If you’re assail an open plan, consider adding other barriers to dam sound travel.

Soundproofing Commercial Walls

While soundproof paint may be a fantastic place to start out, it'd not be enough to stay sound cornered. Other strategies to use include packing the walls and ceilings with sound absorbing materials. Sometimes adding a second layer of drywall can help. Sometimes spraying additional insulation into the walls can help. The matter with both of those options is that the hefty cost and added time to the commercial build out.

Examine your walls and appearance for any cracks and holes which will allow sound to enter. Confirm to plug them, mud them, caulk them or whatever else it takes to form sure they stop leaking sound transfer.

Non-Demising Walls

It’s quite common in office buildings, even Class-A properties, for the walls to be non-demising which suggests the walls don’t go all the high to the deck. If you see a suspended ceiling, also referred to as a drop ceiling, it means the walls are non-demising. This construction method is far cheaper to put in than a finished ceiling however it creates more acoustic problems because those ceiling tiles are often very thin and not great at stopping sound and therefore the sound that does get through them is extremely likely to travel over the non-demising walls and into nearby offices or conference rooms.

The two best ways to affect these unfinished ceilings are to spray the ceiling tiles with a soundproofing paint or to hold layers of insulation over the non-demising walls. These two options together should help your office noise problems.

What is my budget? a number of these methods are significant investments, while others cost relatively little. If you’re on a budget, start with the less costly solutions first and go from there