Reducing Office Noise and Echo: Acoustic Panels Case Study

Easy-Fix Acoustic Foam Panels: The Solution to Office Noise and Echo

In many offices, unwanted noise and echo can pose significant challenges. Excessive office noise can disrupt productivity, increase stress, and make communication difficult. Fortunately, acoustic panels provide an effective and stylish solution to these problems.

Why Noise and Echo Are Problematic in Offices

Open-plan offices, whilst great for collaboration, often amplify sound. Hard surfaces like glass, concrete, and wood reflect sound waves, creating echoes and increasing noise levels. This environment can lead to:

• Reduced focus and lower productivity.
• Miscommunication during meetings or phone calls.
• Increased employee fatigue and stress due to constant noise distractions.

What are Acoustic Panels?

Acoustic panels are specially designed to absorb sound waves. They effectively reduce noise and prevent echoes. Available in various sizes, shapes, and styles, they seamlessly complement different office aesthetics whist dramatically improving the sound quality within the space.

Acoustic panels work by trapping sound waves and converting them into heat energy. This process minimises reverberations, creating a quieter, more comfortable workspace for employees to focus and collaborate effectively.

Acoustic panels from The Soundproofing Store feature a specialist sound absorbing foam core and are wrapped in an acoustic fabric. The 40mm thick options provide a Class A sound absorption performance, to dramatically reduce unwanted echo and enhanced the acoustic comfort within any space.

Steps to Reduce Office Noise and Echo with Acoustic Panels

1. Identify Problematic Areas

Start by assessing your office space. Identify the areas where noise levels are highest, such as meeting rooms, open plan communal areas, and reception areas.

2. Choose the Right Type of Acoustic Panels

Acoustic panels come in various forms, each suited to different needs:

• Wall Panels: Ideal for reducing sound reflections off flat surfaces.
• Ceiling Rafts or Baffles: Ideal for spaces with high ceilings where sound bounces around and when wall space is reserved for screens, artwork, displays or notices.
• Desk Dividers: A practical solution for open-plan offices, providing personal sound insulation.
• High-impact Panels: Ideal for high traffic areas or sports halls.

3. Customise for Aesthetics and Branding

Acoustic panels can be more than functional - they can also be a design element. Choose colours, patterns, or custom-printed panels that reflect your brand or complement your office decor.

Benefits of Acoustic Panels in Offices

• Improved Productivity: A quieter environment allows employees to concentrate better, free from disruptive background noise.

• Enhanced Communication: Meetings and calls are clearer and more productive with reduced distractions.

• Increased Comfort: A quieter workspace helps to reduces stress and fatigue, creating a more comfortable and pleasant working environment.

• Professional Appeal: Beyond functionality, acoustic panels add a polished, modern look to your office.

Why Acoustic Panels are Essential for Reducing Noise and Echo in an Office

Acoustic panels are often a necessity for modern offices. They not only solve noise and echo issues but also contribute to a healthier, happier, and more productive workplace.

Acoustic panels are designed to absorb sound waves, reducing noise and preventing echoes. By incorporating them into your office, you can create a more comfortable, productive, and professional environment.

By investing in acoustic panels, you can transform your office into a space where unwanted echo and noise no longer impacts productivity, concentration, communication and wellbeing.

Case Study: Acoustic Easy-Fix Ceiling Panels for Office Soundproofing

The Soundproofing Store was contacted by the Managing Director of a business in the process of moving into a stunning new office on the Broughton Hall Estate in Yorkshire. Although the beautiful setting offered tranquillity, the building itself failed to reflect this peaceful atmosphere.

The office, a spacious converted watermill, captured the company’s interest with its rustic charm. However, it posed significant challenges for managing office acoustics. The large open-plan design, coupled with hard reflective surfaces amplified noise throughout the space.

With 50-60 staff members, many of whom spend a considerable amount of time on the phone, the existing acoustics in the space hindered productivity and were not conducive to a productive work environment.

The Solution: ProSound Easy-Fix Acoustic Ceiling Panels

The Soundproofing Store offers a variety of acoustic wall and ceiling treatment solutions, so why were Easy-Fix Acoustic Panels selected?

By analysing the office dimensions and reviewing photos of the space, The Soundproofing Store’s team of acoustic experts identified the available surface area within the office. Using this information, they created an acoustic report of the office. The report calculates the echo levels in the space and determines the amount of sound absorption needed to reduce the echo to a distraction-free level. (Please contact The Soundproofing Store should you require an acoustic report).

Easy-Fix Acoustic Foam Panels are selected because they attach easily and directly to both walls and ceilings. Given the office’s stunning design and limited wall space, the beams offered an ideal location for installing the panels. This approach not only preserved the aesthetic appeal but also optimised the available space. In a large open-plan office, treating the ceiling ensures a more even distribution of sound absorption, making this solution both practical and effective.

The client chose the Easy-Fix Panels in white, prioritising a seamless blend with the room's design over a bolder statement in their brand colours. In white, the panels introduced a modern touch that perfectly complemented the rustic charm of the converted mill.

Features of Easy-Fix Acoustic Panels

To address unwanted office noise, it is important to cover the surface area with soft, absorbent material. This is achieved by using sound absorption panels, also referred to as acoustic treatment panels.

ProSound Acoustic Easy-fix Ceiling Panels are a popular solution for reducing echo and reverberation and improving sound quality in commercial spaces. The panels are designed to be extremely easy to install and highly effective in reducing noise levels, making them an ideal choice for the business's needs.

The Acoustic Easy-fix Ceiling Panels are made from a high-performance acoustic foam core, which helps absorb sound waves and prevent echo, thus reducing overall noise levels in the office. They can be added to ceilings or walls and when sound is projected out, instead of hitting a hard wall or hard ceiling and bouncing back, it hits the acoustic panel and the panel soaks the sound up and absorbs it. This stops it from bouncing back into the room. The more surface area of the office covered in acoustic panels, the less echo there is.

The Easy-Fix Foam Panels are covered with an acoustically transparent fabric which means the sound goes straight through the fabric and into the sound absorbing core. With a range of fabrics and colour options to suit any type of office space. Because all office spaces are different, Easy-Fix Acoustic Panels are bespoke and available in a variety of different shapes and sizes to suit any space.

Optimising Acoustics Within An Office

The Soundproofing Store ran an acoustic report which calculated the reverberation time of the office. This was 4 seconds, which meant with just a couple of people talking in the room, there was a lot of echo. Add in all of the employees and it would be extremely loud.

The aim was to get the reverberation time down to 1 second, so not completely 'dry' which would sound odd for an office environment. (Think about the dry feel of the acoustics when you are at the cinema). Reducing the reverberation time from 4 seconds to 1 second makes a huge huge difference to the office acoustics. 

To achieve this result 42 Easy-Fix Acoustic Panels are used, covering 60m². This size of the panels were bespoke to fit between the wooden beams at 800mm x 1800mm and 40mm thick. Importantly, ProSound Easy-Fix Acoustic Panels deliver a Class A -NRC 0.95 performance.

Easy-Fix Panels Installation

ProSound Easy-Fix Panels are extremely easy to install. Instead of being installed with brackets or suspension cables they have a simple self adhesive peel and stick application. Due to the acoustic panels being installed on the office ceiling and not the wall, a grab adhesive is also used.

Step-by-Step Installation of ProSound Easy-Fix Acoustic Ceiling Panels

Please see the video.

Office Sound Absorption with Easy-Fix Acoustic Foam Ceiling Panels: The Results

Acoustic panels can serve as either a subtle addition or a bold statement in an office. With endless design possibilities, the choice is entirely up to personal style preference.

Following the installation of the Acoustic Easy-Fix Foam Ceiling Panels, the office environment drastically improved. Staff reported a significant reduction in overall noise levels, with less disturbance from background chatter and phone conversations. The panels helped absorb sound, preventing it from bouncing off the hard surfaces of the office and reducing the ‘echo’ effect that had previously made the space feel noisy and unproductive.

In addition to their acoustic performance, the panels seamlessly blended into the office’s aesthetics, enhancing the building’s modern, yet rustic charm without detracting from the natural beauty of the space. The MD and staff were thrilled with the results, saying how "the office soundproofing is amazing." and that he wouldn't hesitate to "highly recommend, Phil and the team at The Soundproofing Store."

The business can now operate to its full potential in beautifu