Quick answer: The most effective way to improve office acoustics is to add sound-absorbing surfaces: wall-mounted acoustic panels, ceiling rafts or baffles, and soft furnishings such as carpet and upholstered furniture. Used together, these treatments reduce reverberation and background noise so that conversation stays intelligible without the room falling uncomfortably silent.
Why open-plan offices struggle with noise
Open-plan layouts promote visibility and collaboration, but they also create acoustic problems. Hard floors, exposed ceilings and large areas of glazing reflect sound rather than absorbing it, which raises reverberation time and pushes ambient noise levels up. The result is a space where colleagues' conversations carry too clearly, concentration is disrupted and people unconsciously raise their voices to be heard.
The goal is not silence. A completely quiet office amplifies every small sound, which is equally distracting. The target is controlled background noise: enough ambient sound that individual conversations blend in, but not so much that it becomes fatiguing. Acoustic treatment achieves this by reducing reflections and breaking up direct sound paths.
Acoustic panels: the most direct fix
Purpose-built acoustic products are the most effective single intervention you can make. They absorb sound waves at the frequencies that carry speech, preventing noise from building to uncomfortable levels.
There are three main formats to consider:
- Wall-mounted panels -- fixed to side walls or end walls, these address reflections from the primary hard surfaces in most offices. A Class A-rated panel such as the Zen Liner provides maximum absorption in a slim profile and can be printed with artwork or brand colours to become a feature rather than a purely functional addition.
- Ceiling rafts -- horizontal panels suspended from the ceiling, ideal where wall space is limited or where the ceiling void is the main reflective surface. The Zen Raft is available in a range of sizes and fabrics and works well over workstation clusters or collaboration zones.
- Acoustic pin boards -- the Zen Acoustic Pin Board combines a functional display surface with sound absorption, making it a practical choice for meeting rooms and breakout areas where wall space needs to work harder.
For open-plan areas where wall and ceiling mounting are both impractical, free-standing acoustic screens placed between workstation banks can reduce the direct transmission of noise between adjacent desks.
Browse the full acoustic solutions range →
Soft furnishings: the low-cost layer
Before specifying acoustic panels, review what soft materials are already in the space, or could easily be added. Textiles absorb sound at higher frequencies and help reduce the hard, reflective quality of a room:
- Carpet and rugs -- the floor is one of the largest reflective surfaces in any office. Carpet reduces impact noise (footsteps, chair movement) and absorbs some airborne sound. In open-plan spaces without full carpet, large rugs beneath workstation clusters provide a meaningful improvement.
- Curtains and blinds -- windows are highly reflective. Heavy fabric curtains or cellular blinds reduce echo from glazed facades, particularly in meeting rooms where the glass wall opposite a whiteboard is a common problem.
- Upholstered furniture -- sofas, lounge chairs and upholstered break-out seating absorb significantly more sound than their hard-shell equivalents. Specifying upholstered furniture in collaborative areas serves a dual purpose: acoustic treatment and comfortable informal workspace.
Layout changes that improve acoustics without new products
Physical arrangement affects how sound travels through a space. A few layout adjustments can make a noticeable difference:
- Bookshelves and display units -- open shelving filled with books, files and objects acts as an irregular surface that scatters and absorbs sound rather than reflecting it uniformly. Positioning shelving units as room dividers creates both a visual break and an acoustic one.
- Plants -- large-leafed plants absorb some sound and scatter reflections. They also improve air quality. Grouped in clusters near noise sources or hard surfaces, they contribute to the overall acoustic environment without additional build work.
- Quiet zones -- designating specific areas for focused work, positioned away from phone call zones and collaborative areas, manages the sources of noise as much as the reflections. Acoustic treatment works better when noise sources are concentrated in defined areas.
- Desk screens -- screens with sound-absorbing fabric surfaces reduce noise transmission between adjacent workstations, creating a degree of acoustic separation without full partitioning.
Desk accessories that reduce surface noise
Not all office noise comes from voices. Keyboards, mouse clicks, coffee cups on hard desktops and chair movement all contribute to the ambient level. Desk mats create a softer surface that absorbs impact noise and reduces the hard clatter from everyday objects. Chair legs fitted with soft glides or castors eliminate the scraping noise that carries across hard floors.
These are small changes individually, but in an open-plan office where every desk multiplies the effect, they add up.
White noise: managing background sound deliberately
One counter-intuitive approach is to add a controlled level of low-frequency background sound. A white noise system introduces a gentle, non-distracting audio layer that raises the ambient floor just enough to mask individual conversations without making them unintelligible. The practical effect is that spoken conversations at normal volume no longer carry clearly across the room.
White noise is most effective in combination with acoustic absorption. Absorption reduces peak noise levels; white noise raises the floor. Together they create the controlled, consistent acoustic environment that research links to sustained concentration.
Choosing the right combination for your space
No single product fixes office acoustics on its own. A practical starting point is to identify the dominant problem: if the office feels echoey and reverberant, start with wall panels and ceiling treatment; if the main issue is audibility of individual conversations between workstations, prioritise desk screens and soft furnishings. Most spaces benefit from a combination of fixed acoustic treatment, soft surfaces and layout adjustment.
For offices with specific meeting rooms or hybrid-working setups, pairing acoustic panels with the right audio-visual equipment makes a significant difference to call quality and in-room clarity.
Frequently asked questions
How do I reduce noise in an open-plan office?
The most effective approach combines acoustic panels on walls and ceilings to absorb reflections with desk screens to reduce direct noise transmission between workstations. Adding soft furnishings such as carpet, curtains and upholstered seating provides a secondary layer of absorption. For voice noise specifically, a low-level white noise system helps mask individual conversations without adding noticeable sound of its own.
Do acoustic panels actually work in offices?
Yes, when specified correctly. Class A-rated fabric-wrapped panels reduce reverberation time measurably, which directly lowers the perceived noise level in a room. The improvement is most noticeable in hard-surfaced spaces -- concrete floors, exposed ceilings, large windows -- where reverberation is the primary problem. In an already-carpeted office with soft furnishings, the impact is smaller but still meaningful in meeting rooms and collaboration zones.
What is the cheapest way to soundproof an office?
Full soundproofing (preventing sound from entering or leaving a room) requires structural changes and is expensive. Acoustic treatment -- reducing the noise level inside the room by absorbing reflections -- is much more affordable. Adding carpet, placing large bookshelves on hard walls, using upholstered furniture, and fitting desk screens with fabric surfaces can all be done at relatively low cost and deliver noticeable results in most open-plan offices.
Where should acoustic panels be placed in an office?
Start with the surfaces that are hardest and largest: typically the end walls, the ceiling above workstation clusters, and any large glazed facades. For meeting rooms, treating the rear wall and both side walls up to two-thirds of the room's length reduces reverberation effectively. Ceiling rafts directly above desks or collaboration tables are particularly useful where wall space is limited.
Can plants help with office acoustics?
Plants contribute modestly to acoustic absorption, particularly when grouped together with large leaves. They are more useful as a complement to purpose-built acoustic treatment than as a primary solution. Their main acoustic benefit is scattering reflections from hard surfaces rather than absorbing significant amounts of sound energy. That said, they improve air quality and wellbeing too, which makes them worth including in an office acoustic strategy.
Do notice boards help with office noise?
Fabric-faced notice boards absorb sound at mid and high frequencies, which is enough to make a contribution to the overall acoustic environment. They are a practical choice for office walls that need to display information as well as manage reflections, and they are more affordable than dedicated acoustic panels. For offices with a limited budget, combining notice boards on display walls with a few targeted acoustic panels in the noisiest areas is a cost-effective approach.
Need advice on specifying acoustic treatment for your office? Get in touch with the Presentation Spaces team and we will help you identify the right products for your space and budget.
