Room acoustics and work performance -Experimental study in a full-scale open-plan office laboratory

Abstract

The aim of the study was to show that the room acoustic design of an open-plan office that contains speech sounds has an effect on cognitive work performance, acoustic satisfaction and perceived workload. The study was carried out in an openplan office (90 m2). Four acoustic conditions, with different speech privacy levels, were built. The conditions were created by changing the acoustic environment using screens, absorbers, and a speech masking system. Speech was produced from empty workstations. In addition, a silent condition was used as a reference condition. Altogether 119 subjects participated in the experiment (a between-groups design). Subjects were exposed to the acoustic condition for nearly 4 hours. Performance was measured with several cognitive tasks which are essential for many kinds of office work. Questionnaires were used to gather information on acoustic satisfaction and subjective workload. The silent condition was the most beneficial acoustic condition. The condition with the lowest speech privacy was the least beneficial. The experiment has high practical relevance for the acoustic design guidelines as the acoustic conditions of this experiment can be realized in open-plan office workplaces.