Acoustics and Employee Well-Being
How Sound Affects Focus, Stress, and ProductivityWorkplace design has experienced a seismic shift over the past few decades. The cubicles and private offices of the past have given way to open-plan environments, which now dominate commercial interiors. Much of this was spawned by new technology, driving new ways of working with collaboration, transparency, and flexibility being the priority. The trade-off? Noise. Lots of it.
It may feel more subliminal to some but for those who make sound their business, like EzoBord, we get that when unmanaged, it can quietly sabotage focus, heighten stress, and chip away at productivity. As a company grounded in the science of acoustics and driven by design, we believe that soundscapes deserve the same attention as lighting, temperature or ergonomic furniture when it comes to designing healthy, high-performing workplaces.
The Open Office Dilemma
Let’s start with the obvious: open offices have a noise problem. While they offer benefits like flexibility and cost savings, open offices often come at the expense of acoustical comfort. Over the last 20 years, office densities have increased dramatically. The British Council for Offices (BCO) reports a 20% reduction in office space per person every decade – equivalent to losing two desk areas per occupant. With smaller desks packed more closely together, the result is a perfect storm of:
- Excessive noise from adjacent rooms or occupants
- Lack of speech privacy, making sensitive conversations a challenge
- Speech intelligibility issues, especially in virtual meetings
- No personal acoustic space, amplifying distraction and stress
Unsurprisingly, this has real consequences. An article in the Southern Medical Journal listed health risks associated with chronic noise exposure, including sleep disturbances, cardiovascular stress, and even hearing impairment.
The Science Behind
Sound and Stress
Acoustics are often invisible in design until they go wrong. Then they become impossible to ignore.
Dr. David M. Sykes, Ph.D., vice chair of The Quiet Coalition and a leading voice in acoustical science, has conducted extensive research on the health and performance impacts of noise in office environments. According to one of his studies, when offices are designed with proper acoustic treatment:
Despite this, as many as 80% of workplace decision-makers still underestimate the role of acoustics in employee satisfaction and productivity.
Acoustic Wellness: A Key Component of Holistic Workplace Design
Modern wellness-focused workplace design is incomplete without considering acoustical comfort. Just as biophilic design brings nature indoors to calm and focus the mind, managing soundscapes with intent can support cognitive clarity, reduce tension, and help people feel more grounded.
And in an era where hybrid work, Teams and Zoom calls, and mental health are front and center, designers, architects, and employers have an opportunity and responsibility to create spaces that truly support human performance.
The Solution: Performance-Driven Acoustic Design
So how do we fix the noise problem? Acoustic products, when strategically integrated into a space, can dramatically reduce reverberation and sound reflection. The key metric here is NRC (Noise Reduction Coefficient). A product, for example, with a .95 NRC rating absorbs 95% of the sound that hits it, reducing echo, improving speech clarity and restoring peace to chaotic environments.
At EzoBord, we engineer design-forward acoustic treatments that blend seamlessly into interiors, whether it’s wall panels, ceiling baffles, space dividers, or custom installations. EzoBord solutions not only perform, they belong in the space. By combining aesthetic flexibility with high-performance materials, we help designers create spaces that look beautiful and sound even better.
Two important factors that influence NRC rating include:
1.
Thickness of the material:
Thicker panels generally absorb lower
frequencies
2.
Density of the core material:
denser structures are more effective at stopping higher-frequency sounds
This allows EzoBord to tailor solutions for specific sound challenges in different environments – from quiet zones and meeting rooms to collaborative areas and break-out spaces.
Rethinking Sound for the Future of Work
It’s time to move beyond noise as a nuisance and start recognizing it as a critical component of workplace wellness and performance. With workplace stress at an all-time high and the boundaries between focus and distraction razor-thin, acoustic design is no longer optional; it’s essential.
At EzoBord, we’re proud to lead the charge in sound management, blending cutting-edge materials with architectural creativity to shape workplaces that feel better, sound better, and work better.
If you’re ready to rethink the sound of your space, let’s talk.
