Creating the Perfect Office – Why Acoustics Matter So Much

Modern offices must be sufficiently flexible to offer and manage a wide range of possible activities, uses, and types of employees, including perfectly soundproof sections where high levels of concentration, creativity, or privacy are required. It is simply difficult to focus and deliver truly quality performances when someone or something is distracting you in the room.

The impact of acoustics on health and performance

You often hear about poor acoustics having a negative impact on productivity in the workplace. But what does that exactly mean? Can the noise level in the office really affect an employee's productivity or impact their overall mood? Yes, this claim is supported by a whole range of evidence and studies*. According to their conclusions, a noisy environment negatively affects workers' concentration, the quality of their work, and their ability to retain information. From a health perspective, exposure to excessive noise leads to physical tension and mental stress, significantly reducing job satisfaction and increasing the risk of absenteeism.

Optimal work environment

The acoustics of office spaces is challenging and complex primarily because these spaces consist of rooms of various types - from open-plan offices, where sound absorption and maintaining a low noise level are key to ensuring an optimal acoustic environment, to adjacent smaller offices and meeting rooms, where it is again important to keep sound contained to ensure the necessary level of privacy.
Some clients choose soundproofing materials that serve as barriers to prevent noise intrusion or escape from the space, but have no effect on sound absorption and regulation within the room. Others prefer sound-absorbing systems that help improve speech intelligibility in the room and reduce echo; however, they do not prevent sound from transmitting and thus disturbing individuals in adjacent rooms.
Rockfon dB is uncompromising in this regard. The unique combination of high sound insulation and sound absorbency allows you to create an optimal acoustic work environment regardless of the type of space or area involved.

Don't suffer in silence - we have a solution for you

We have enhanced our dB product line with new options that can be used when designing modern offices and effectively addressing acoustic problems. All ceiling panels utilize the same Rockfon technology based on a unique combination of high sound absorbency and sound insulation, yet offer varying degrees of noise protection from 35 dB to 46 dB, according to your specific requirements for peace and privacy.

Our wide range of accessories is designed to complement the dB product line effectively. Products such as sound barriers for lighting and other technical installations Rockfon® Rocklux® or the sound insulation system Rockfon® Soundstop™ are great solutions for completely suppressing noise.

The dB product line is now available with two different surfaces: Rockfon® Sonar® dB offers an attractive micro-textured surface, while Rockfon Blanka® dB has a smooth surface with an exceptionally white coating.

The office of the future

Sundtkvartalet is a new modern office complex offering 31,000 m² of space, perfectly fitting among the adjacent buildings of the old part of Oslo, Norway. One of the largest tenants is Skanska Norway, employing 400 workers in nearly 25% of the total complex area. The building offers a total capacity of 1500 office units.
The specific needs and demands of Skanska were thus prioritized in a project aimed at building efficient, flexible, and high-quality offices and workplaces. And since Skanska works with contracts and sensitive information that require a high level of confidentiality and privacy, the interior execution also needed to be adapted accordingly. "It was necessary to ensure that conversations and discussions could not be overheard," adds Øivind Hansen, working at Skanska as Facility Manager.

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* Source: Sykes, David M., PhD. Productivity: How Acoustics Affect Workers' Performance in Open Areas. 2004
** Source: WGBC, Building the Business Case: Health, Wellbeing and Productivity in Green Offices, October 2016