SAY NO TO NOISE
The key to achieving
BETTER PRIVACY,
both individually and
in meetings, is all in
the sound.
From a sensory perspective, our
ability to hear is undoubtedly
the source of most workplace
disturbance. Loud talking or
music can derail our train of
thought in a matter of seconds
and seriously disrupt important
meetings. Although noise-
cancelling headphones have
come to our aid, employees
rightfully deserve a more
sustainable solution. According
to research published in the
Journal of Environmental
Psychology, private offices
outperformed open-plan layouts
in terms of indoor environmental
quality, especially in the areas of
acoustics, privacy and proxemics.
As the war between open-
plan and partitioned offices
wages on, designers imagine
scenarios that allow us to benefit
from the positives of both
schemes – options that endorse
the ease of interaction found
in open-plan layouts, while
reserving more contained areas
for quiet, concentration and
focus. An average of 20 per cent
of professional services around
the world rated their workplaces
as poor in supporting tasks that
require concentration. In any
setting, it’s nearly impossible
to avoid all visual and acoustic
distractions. Perhaps what we
really need is an extroverted
introverted office space – one
that respects both facets of the
way we work. – LGMCo
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Cooperation between Swedish company Lammhults and designer Troels Grum-Schwensen resulted in Detach,
a power-supply system, sound absorber and partitioning screen in one. The product turns the Attach
conference table into a proper work-bench system. The screen divider is available as a single unit or as one
part of a larger system.
lammhults.se
By limiting the senses
of sight and hearing,
Panasonic’s Wear
Space helps the user to
achieve a higher state
of concentration in an
open-plan office. Instantly
producing a zone of
personal space with a
wrap-around partition
and noise-cancelling
technology, the device
includes adjustable settings
that calculate just how
much focus you need.
panasonic.net
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