{"id":1012,"date":"2026-05-07T05:26:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T05:26:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/soundmask.com.au\/blog\/?p=1012"},"modified":"2026-05-07T05:26:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T05:26:36","slug":"understanding-iso-229552021-the-recent-standard-for-the-acoustic-quality-of-open-office-spaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soundmask.com.au\/blog\/understanding-iso-229552021-the-recent-standard-for-the-acoustic-quality-of-open-office-spaces\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding ISO 22955:2021 \u2014 the recent standard for the acoustic quality of open office spaces"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For years, designing an open-plan office was often a tug-of-war between aesthetics and functionality. We wanted collaborative spaces, but we ended up with environments where you could hear the telephone argument a colleague was having with his wife from the other side of the office. While older standards focused primarily on noise levels, the introduction of\u00a0ISO 22955:2021<\/a> (Acoustic quality of open-plan offices) has shifted the focus to where it belongs: the user experience and\u00a0speech privacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is ISO 22955:2021?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This standard provides a sophisticated framework for managing acoustics based on the specific\u00a0activity\u00a0occurring in a space. Rather than a one size fits all decibel limit, it acknowledges that a call centre has different acoustic requirements than a creative hub or a focused workstation zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Passages and Principles<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

One of the most significant shifts in the standard is the emphasis on\u00a0discreet speech. It highlights that the most distracting element in an office isn’t loud noise, but\u00a0intelligible\u00a0noise. When you can understand the words of a nearby conversation, your brain’s pre-attentive processing is triggered, making it nearly impossible to focus on complex tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among other things, the standard addresses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n