There was little concern for privacy in the early days of open plan office design as their aim was to foster communication and teamwork. The advantage of accommodating more desks into a single space that doesn’t have the confines of walls and windows was more appealing to companies back then. But after some time they understood the need to consult an acoustic consultant in Queensland to improve the privacy at individual workstations.
Installing properly designed sound absorbing surfaces reduces the clatter that predominates in poorly designed open-plan offices. The acoustical treatments create a subdued effect in the room, which encourages workers to lower their voices, a factor that helps to significantly improve acoustical privacy. To achieve acoustical privacy between adjacent workstations there are a few requirements like a large enough room, finished with a highly absorbent acoustical ceiling tile, a quality carpet, and properly designed and constructed acoustical screens. In addition, you also have to pay attention to the need for department planning, workstation layout, furniture design, and lighting.
Some of the acoustical designs that you need to consider when you want to achieve privacy in an open plan office are mentioned below:
• Departments like human resources, legal department, etc. require more privacy so they should be located in typical cellular offices as it is difficult for them to work in an open plan office that provides minimum privacy.
• The environment of an open plan office should be very flexible and interdepartmental privacy should be maintained for smooth business operations.
• Getting an acoustic consultant in Queensland in for the soundproofing design will ensure that you get peace of mind and privacy to complete your work efficiently and effectively.
You don’t have to be an acoustics expert to create an open plan office space but a decent grasp of the basic concepts around acoustics will really help you to communicate effectively with your consultant and ensure that they fully understand your requirements. The key to achieving an acoustically sound environment is, choose the right acoustic consultant and define your requirement clearly to them.
