Architectural trends have been moving towards open ceilings with exposed services for some time. There are pros and cons to this move, including the acoustic comfort of a space. Low background sound levels and reverberant surfaces require careful treatment when aesthetics are paramount. Soundmask has experience in solving acoustic problems in these challenging spaces.

Exposed services

The architectural trend in many modern office fitouts, including shared workspaces, has moved away from pop in tiles or plasterboard. This opens up the space and provides a modern aesthetic. However, where there are low background sound levels and open plan designs, unwanted noise can be amplified.

Sound masking offers a solution in these spaces, and wherever the background sound levels are too low. There are many benefits to sound masking in these spaces. For example, the systems are visually unobtrusive. They are also easy to retrofit. Introducing a comfortable background sound reduces the impact of annoying noise.

Shared workspace

Some examples below of these architectural trends include fully exposed design in Figures 1 & 2.

The smaller open plan office was in a shared office space where noise intruded from other businesses. This meant that the business had a problem with speech privacy as well as reduced productivity. The Soundmask system was installed and then moved to a new premises when the business ended their lease.

Hybrid office

Sometimes there are hybrid designs where the plasterboard and ceiling tiles remain. Sound masking is perfect for such applications because the system can be zoned to allow for the different ceiling surfaces.

Figure 3 below shows a hybrid space. Here, the architect designed an open plan office that featured acoustic ceiling tiles. This flowed through to surrounding areas where exposed services featured, in line with modern architectural trends. Then, plasterboard was used for the meeting rooms and telephone booths.

When designing the Soundmask system, the correct zoning ensured an even spread of sound, and ensured that the exposed services did not impact the acoustic comfort of the workers.

Conclusion

Architectural trends favour open ceilings and exposed services. Including a sound masking system in the acoustic design of such spaces ensures that problems of speech privacy and intrusive noise are solved.