In the modern open-plan office, a paradoxical problem has presented itself: the very partitions installed to provide quiet are actually making people talk “significantly louder,” thus negating their own benefit.
A new study from Concordia University researchers, published in Science and Technology for the Built Environment, examined speech levels in two active offices in Montreal and Quebec City. The team studied more than 70 employees who spoke English or French, using high-precision sound meters to capture their speech during conversations, online meetings, and readings in various settings, ranging from open-plan areas to private rooms.
“We found that people speak significantly louder if they are in an open-plan office with partitions separating the workstations,” said Joonhee Lee, the study’s author. “When the participants sat at a desk with partitions, they naturally increased their speech level. While the partitions are effective at attenuating speech, their full benefit may not be realised, as the workers may feel they are able to talk louder than they otherwise would without the partitions.”
Existing standards may be inaccurate
The study also found that real-world office speech levels were generally lower than those specified in industry standards. These standards are often based on laboratory tests in anechoic chambers, which lack the reflective feedback people naturally use to gauge their speech strength. This suggests existing standards for noise control may be inaccurate.
In contrast, meeting rooms showed consistent speech sound levels regardless of their size. Teleconferences led to “slightly higher” speaking volumes compared to face-to-face discussions, while the language spoken did not have a significant effect.
Lee noted that a completely noise-free environment could be almost as distracting as an overly noisy one. “A decrease in background noise only amplifies the perception of other kinds of noise,” he said. “Some degree of background noise actually helps people perform better.”
