the noise problem offices ignore
Hybrid working has changed what people expect from the office. Employees return by choice now, and what they find when they arrive matters.
Research from Oscar Acoustics, based on a survey of 2,000 UK office employees, makes the scale of the issue clear. The average professional loses 26 minutes of productive time every day to noise, more than three weeks of lost output over a full working year. Over half experience stress or anxiety from excessive office noise. Nearly a quarter have taken time off as a result.
Good acoustic design addresses these concerns directly. Rabobank shows exactly how.
sound thinking from the start
IDSR specified Oscar Acoustics’ SonaSpray K-13 Special for the ceilings above the building services. The seamless, recycled finish absorbs sound energy rather than reflecting it, reducing the reverberation that builds up in open-plan environments. Rabobank’s brief called for both collaboration and concentration. Acoustic performance was fundamental to delivering both.
Oscar Acoustics and Sheppard Robson have worked together for years, including on HSBC’s headquarters at Canada Square. It is a relationship built on a shared understanding of how acoustic specification shapes the spaces people actually work in. Ben Hancock, Managing Director of Oscar Acoustics, regularly delivers CPD sessions for the practice covering detailing acoustic finishes and audio-inclusive design.
Want to bring that thinking to your next project?
