Office Acoustics and Productivity: How Workplace Sound Affects Concentration

Most people have experienced it: trying to write a report while a nearby colleague takes a phone call, or losing track of a spreadsheet because a conversation two desks away is impossible to ignore. Workplace sound affects concentration — and concentration affects productivity.

Office acoustics is not only about comfort. Research on open plan offices shows that intelligible speech is a major source of distraction and dissatisfaction, and laboratory studies link speech intelligibility to measurable reductions in cognitive performance.

For workplaces across Saudi Arabia, AcouStick helps translate this research into practical design, with acoustic assessment, modelling and KSA-manufactured ceilings, baffles, panels, screens, booths, partitions and acoustic doors.

This guide explains how workplace sound affects concentration, what the research shows, why speech matters most, and how office acoustics can be designed to support focused work.

How Workplace Sound Affects Concentration

Not all workplace sound affects concentration in the same way. Research on open plan offices focuses on intelligible speech — conversation that listeners can understand even though it is not meant for them.

Researchers describe this as the irrelevant speech effect. A 2019 laboratory study by Kostallari, Parizet, Chevret, Amato and Galy notes that speech noise in open plan offices is now widely accepted as the main source of discomfort for employees, and found a significant effect of the Speech Transmission Index (STI) on performance decrease, mental load and discomfort.

Key insight: the more intelligible nearby speech is, the more it tends to disrupt concentration. Reducing intelligibility — not only loudness — is the goal.

What the Research Shows

• Speech intelligibility and performance — Kostallari et al. (2019) tested a model by Hongisto linking performance decrease to STI. The model predicts performance loss levels off at high intelligibility, at about 7%; their results did not show further increases at the highest STI values and could not reject this plateau.

• Workplace satisfaction — Kim and de Dear of UC Berkeley's Center for the Built Environment (Journal of Environmental Psychology, 2013) found enclosed private offices clearly outperformed open plan layouts in acoustics and privacy, and the benefits of easier interaction were smaller than the penalties of more noise and less privacy.

• Speech privacy — the U.S. General Services Administration's "Sound Matters" guide reports a survey of 24,000 workers in which dissatisfaction with speech privacy exceeded complaints about overall noise.

Why Speech Is the Main Problem

• It carries meaning — understanding words pulls attention away from work.

• It is intermittent — conversations start and stop throughout the day.

• It travels far in open plans — hard surfaces and few barriers let speech spread.

• It is everywhere — calls, meetings and collaboration happen across the floor.

Measuring the Distraction Potential of an Office

ISO 3382-3 measures how speech travels in open plan offices:

• Distraction distance (rD) — where STI falls below 0.50 — good conditions: no more than 5 m.

• Privacy distance (rP) — where STI falls below 0.20.

• Spatial decay rate of speech (D2,S) — good conditions: at least 7 dB per doubling of distance.

• Speech level at 4 m (Lp,A,S,4m) — good conditions: no more than 48 dB.

A shorter distraction distance means fewer colleagues within range of clearly intelligible speech — directly linked to the irrelevant speech effect.

Other Workplace Sounds That Affect Concentration

• Phone and video calls — one-sided conversation is especially noticeable.

• Meetings in open areas or leaky rooms — extended speech near workstations.

• Pantry and breakout areas — laughter and activity noise.

• Equipment — printers and kitchen appliances.

• HVAC — background noise that is too high, or tonal, can be fatiguing.

• Reverberation — hard surfaces make every sound louder and longer.

Designing Offices for Concentration

1. Absorb

Reduce reflected speech, especially from the ceiling. The GSA recommends a minimum NRC of 0.9 across open plan ceilings, NRC 0.8 in meeting rooms, and 50% of the ceiling at NRC 0.8 in confidential private offices.

2. Block

Screens and furniture interrupt direct speech. The GSA recommends seated-privacy partitions of no more than 51 inches, with a maximum of 66 inches.

3. Cover

Sound masking lowers the intelligibility of distant speech. The GSA recommends 45 – 48 dBA in open plan areas and 40 – 42 dBA in private offices.

4. Zone

Separate focus work from collaboration and social activity. ISO 22955:2021, as explained by Wassermann (DAGA 2025), gives indicative speech attenuation between zones of 12 dB to 32 dB depending on the activities involved.

5. Provide Choice

Booths, focus rooms and quiet zones let people choose the right acoustic setting for each task.

6. Keep Meeting Rooms Private

Riverbank Acoustical Laboratories describes STC 50 – 55 as speech privacy at normal voice levels. NRC Canada warns flanking along floors, ceilings and abutting walls can seriously impair insulation.

Matching Acoustic Design to Work Types

• Focused individual work — quietest zones, high absorption, screening, distance from activity.

• Collaborative work — moderate activity, absorption, nearby meeting space.

• Calls and video meetings — booths and small rooms.

• Confidential conversations — enclosed rooms with good insulation.

• Social and breakout — separated from focus areas.

A Practical Productivity-Focused Approach

Step 1: Ask Employees

Identify what disrupts concentration and where.

Step 2: Measure

Use ISO 3382-3 parameters to quantify how speech travels.

Step 3: Re-plan Zones

Move focus work away from activity.

Step 4: Absorb, Block and Cover

Combine ceiling absorption, screening and masking.

Step 5: Add Booths and Rooms

Give people places for calls and focus.

Step 6: Verify and Review

Re-measure and gather feedback.

Office Acoustics and Productivity in Saudi Arabia

Saudi workplaces — from corporate headquarters and government offices in Riyadh to commercial and co-working spaces in Jeddah and Dammam — increasingly use open plan and activity-based layouts. Combined with hard finishes, glazing and substantial air-conditioning, this can create acoustic conditions that undermine concentration if not addressed during design.

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Focusing Only on Loudness

Intelligibility matters more for concentration than overall level.

Mistake 2: No Quiet Options

Without focus rooms or booths, people have nowhere to concentrate.

Mistake 3: Treating Walls But Not the Ceiling

The ceiling carries speech across the floor.

Mistake 4: Social Areas Beside Focus Areas

Layout determines exposure.

Mistake 5: Leaky Meeting Rooms

Extended speech leaking from rooms disrupts nearby desks.

Checklist

• Have employees identified the main distractions?

• Is the distraction distance known or estimated?

• Is the ceiling highly absorptive?

• Are screens and layout blocking direct speech?

• Are focus and activity zones separated?

• Are booths and focus rooms available?

• Do meeting rooms keep speech inside?

How AcouStick Supports Productive Workplaces

AcouStick's engineering workflow — assessment and survey, acoustic modelling and design, specifications and shop drawings, and site support — links concentration problems to the right KSA-manufactured solution:

• Absorb — acoustic ceilings, baffles, PET, fabric and wooden panels, acoustic carpet

• Block — desktop screens and movable partitions

• Choice and privacy — acoustic booths, acoustic doors and windows

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How does office noise affect productivity?

Intelligible speech is a major distraction; laboratory research links speech intelligibility to measurable performance decrease and increased mental load.

2. What is the irrelevant speech effect?

The disruption of cognitive tasks by background speech that the listener does not need to hear but cannot help processing.

3. Is quiet always better?

Not necessarily. Very quiet offices can make individual conversations more noticeable; controlled background sound can reduce intelligibility of distant speech.

4. What is the most effective acoustic improvement for concentration?

A combination: absorptive ceilings, screening, zoning, booths and private meeting rooms.

5. How is office distraction measured?

ISO 3382-3 measures distraction distance, privacy distance, spatial decay of speech and speech level at 4 m.

6. Can existing offices be improved?

Yes — with baffles, panels, screens, booths, door seals and zoning changes.

Final Takeaway

Workplace sound affects concentration mainly through intelligible speech. Designing offices to reduce how far speech travels — and giving people choice over where they work — supports focus, privacy and productivity.

Want an office that supports concentration? Share your layout with AcouStick for an acoustic review.

If noise is affecting your team's concentration, AcouStick can help you design an office that reduces distraction and supports focused work.

Email: info@acoustick.co | Call: +966 51 130 809 | Web: www.acoustick.co

REFERENCES

• Kostallari, K., Parizet, E., Chevret, P., Amato, J.-N., & Galy, E. "Irrelevant speech effect in open plan offices: A laboratory study." arXiv:1903.11386, 2019.

• Kim, J., & de Dear, R. "Workspace satisfaction: The privacy-communication trade-off in open-plan offices." Journal of Environmental Psychology, 2013 (Center for the Built Environment, UC Berkeley, eScholarship): escholarship.org/uc/item/2gq017pb

• U.S. General Services Administration. "Sound Matters: How to Achieve Acoustic Comfort in the Contemporary Office." GSA Public Buildings Service, December 2011 / January 2012: gsa.gov

• International Organization for Standardization. ISO 3382-3, "Acoustics — Measurement of room acoustic parameters — Part 3: Open plan offices" — parameter definitions and Annex A values as summarised in ODEON A/S, "Application note: ISO 3382-3 Open plan offices": odeon.dk/pdf/Application_note_ISO-3382-3_Offices.pdf

• Wassermann, E. "Practical Application of ISO 22955 for Acoustic Design in Open-Plan Offices." Müller-BBM Building Solutions, DAGA 2025 (51st Annual Conference on Acoustics), Copenhagen — on ISO 22955:2021, "Acoustics — Acoustic quality of open office spaces".

• Riverbank Acoustical Laboratories. "Understanding Sound Transmission Class (STC) Ratings and Testing" — ASTM E90 / ASTM E413 procedure and STC ranges: riverbankacoustics.com

• Warnock, A.C.C. "Controlling Sound Transmission through Concrete Block Walls." Construction Technology Update No. 13, National Research Council Canada, 1998: publications-cnrc.canada.ca