Sound solutions to improve work

Excessive noise is a key concern whether we are working from home or commuting to work in an office. Novelty ringtones, loud paper shredders, colleagues eating at desks, shouting into conference calls or trying to be heard in an echoing room — work can be challenging without good sound insulation.

There is plenty of research that underlines the importance of a good work soundscape. For example, one study by the British Journal of Psychology found that if you can hear someone talking while you are reading or writing your productivity falls by up to 66%. In another study, a group of students were asked to carry out mental arithmetic tasks while exposed to office noise and then in silence. They performed better when conditions were quiet.

In France, 57% of office workers claimed that their ability to focus was impacted by one or several noise sources, while in the US, research into the working habits of 40,000 office workers found there was no evidence that open plan offices offered benefits over closed alternatives. In fact, open plan workers complained more about sound privacy. And privacy is vital, especially for video calls. People want peace and they don’t want others to hear their conversations.

For those working at home, there may not be noisy colleagues around, but there could be loud neighbours, noisy traffic, distractions from other people in the house or apartment, clacking heating or cooling systems, televisions or devices that are too loud and perhaps the occasional barking dog.

"For individual areas, separate workspaces from surrounding areas with wall and ceiling elements of high-sound insulating performance. Mineral Wool in wall cavities and above ceiling tiles is indispensable,” he says.

“For open office areas, use a lot of acoustically absorbing elements and think about smart office layouts. For example, separate chatty marketing teams from focused accountants. Separating different groups with cabinets, pinboards or other moveable sound barriers will certainly contribute to productivity improvements.”

We have solutions for every possible office or home construction element from brick walls, wooden floors and attics to plasterboard partitions, cavity or concrete walls and timber frames.

The fibre structure of our Mineral Wool is highly effective at absorbing noise and we offer a range of sound insulation densities and thickness which can be used for any application.