Controlling Sound in Your New Office

Feb 14, 2008
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School/Org
Barbara Wright Design
City
Nashville
State
TN
Controlling sound in a new office should be considered from two aspects. First is the elimination or reduction of unwanted sound by sources within or outside a building. Second is the creation of good listening conditions within the building where clarity of speech is required, which must not be marred by sound reverberation and echoes.

External Noise
Unwanted external noise is most often caused by road traffic, which can be minimized by proper use of exterior building methods and materials. Aircraft noise cannot be completely eliminated by normal building construction. If your location is in the flight path of a nearby airport it will be difficult, if not impossible, to eliminate that kind of noise. Undesirable conditions like this should be made known to you by the owner before you lease or buy or you may have grounds for breaking the lease.

You would be wise to go and spend a little time at your desired new location to see how much outside noise is generated during normal business hours. High traffic locations are good for business, but you’ll want to find out if external noise is a design issue for a new building. If you are leasing a space, there is not much you can do to lessen noise from the outside, so make sure it is at a tolerable level.

When you lease a space neighboring businesses like fitness centers, music stores, video arcades and such may produce noise that can be heard in your office, which ruins your professional image. The key to controlling sound from neighbors is the demising wall (the wall that separates your space from adjoining tenants). It should be built with tall studs that go up to the roof (or second floor) structure above and insulated for sound control. The drywall that covers the studs should also go all the way up to the roof without any holes or airspaces.

You can check the demising wall quite easily by lifting one of the ceiling panels right next to it and shining a flashlight into the space above. If it is built only up to the ceiling grid or not covered with drywall all the way up, that doesn’t mean you must reject the space. However you should negotiate with the landlord to either correct the situation or give you an allowance for your own contractor to correct it.

Internal Noise
In the average optometric office noise can be generated in many different ways:
  • Restroom noise: The sound of a toilet flushing or water running through pipes makes people uncomfortable when it can be heard in adjoining rooms.
  • Unwanted conversation: Patients should not be able to hear conversations in adjoining rooms, especially when they are in the exam room. They should also not be able to hear conversations about other patients or private business matters among the staff.
  • Lab equipment noise: Much of the newer lab equipment generates less noise than in the past, but labs can still become quite noisy at times.
  • Break room noise: When staff members talk and laugh together in the break room, it’s good for morale and team-building, but doesn’t sound very professional to patients who overhear it.

Listening Conditions
Sound within a room consists of two components – direct sound, which travels in a straight line through the air from the source to the recipient, and reverberating sound, which bounces off all the hard surfaces in the room creating an echo effect. Reverberating sound can be helpful to amplify sound in large rooms like auditoriums, but in smaller spaces it reduces hearing clarity and can be very annoying to live with day to day.
If you have “hard surface” flooring materials (wood, tile, stone) impact noise is created when people walk on those surfaces, especially in high heels or heavy boots. When a building has a second floor, the impact noise of people walking around overhead can be much more annoying on the first floor than what is heard on the second floor. A suspended ceiling with acoustic tiles can improve listening conditions in this type of space.

Improving Sound Control
There are a number of ways to improve sound control that don’t add much to building costs, such as adding sound batting inside walls and on top of suspended ceilings. Around labs and restrooms walls should be built with staggered studs, sound batting and two layers of drywall. Your architect or designer should know how to detail this type of wall construction so your contractor can build it correctly.

Sound control measures are most effective when they are designed into the interior from the start. It is very difficult to improve sound control issues after construction is complete. Be sure you include proper sound control in your building plans right from the start.

Excerpted from Optometric Office Design Process & Pitfalls, (c) 2008 Barbara Wright, CID.
 
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Important additional information

Barbara Wright,C.I.D.,is a nationally recognized interior design expert specializing in office design and construction for Eye Care Professionals.

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