Acoustics advice when furnishing flexible work spaces

Theodoor Höngens: "More and more offices are set up according to the 'The New Way of Working' principle: in the morning, employees choose the work space that fit best their activities of the day. Often, all these kinds of activities are situated in one big space. So acoustics play an important part as well. For each space, we are able to chart the amount of "speech privacy" and whether noise limiting measures like sound absorbing ceilings and screens in between desk have the desired effect. We did this, for instance, for the new town hall in Heemskerk and for the Outlook building at Schiphol. Fun and useful projects - if the New Way of Working is to succeed, good acoustics are an important prerequisite."

Creative with space, with an eye for acoustics

In the world of banking and insurance, government, and many others, the goal is to work increasingly creatively with a finite amount of space to provide a wide diversity of workplace types. Offices are becoming a dynamic hub for hosting guests, holding meetings, and doing concentrated work. Because these different workplaces are often adjacent to one another, challenges exist in terms of acoustics and sound. On the one hand, there is a requirement for quiet spaces for carrying out concentrated, undisturbed effort. On the other hand, a hosting area or meeting place needs to offer chances for people to talk out loud without flooding the quiet places with sound. An area for concentrating/calling requires good acoustics and maximum sound insulation. And as sound experts, we can optimise all these different types of workplace. We use calculation models to see how much noise enters a room and what measures can be used to combat the different types of noise.

Good acoustics for more productive employees

Many of our clients have requested our help in setting up workplaces in the space they have available. In Heemskerk’s new town hall for example, we provided lots of advice about the acoustics based on the architect’s floor plan. This resulted in a new format. The knowledge we gained about the effects of sound-absorbing materials came from our experience in previous projects. The layout of the Outlook office building at Schiphol was also partly designed thanks to the acoustic assessment of the rooms. This was initially based on model calculations with CATT. Measurements were later performed in a mock-up.

photos and images Gebouw The Outlook and Acapellagebouw, BOS EN ALKEMADE architecten