Coworking spaces are fast-growing shared workspaces designed to meet the need for flexibility and collaboration in modern work. These environments combine open plan offices, meeting rooms, break areas and other spaces that may present complex acoustic challenges.
The coexistence of areas with different uses and the multitude of people, combined with the absence of adequate acoustic treatment, can lead to excessive reverberation, reduced speech intelligibility, distractions and limited sound comfort. These are critical issues that compromise the productivity and well-being of those who work in these spaces.
This case study analyses a newly established coworking space consisting of:
- A 118 m3 reception with break area and common spaces with high reverberation at low frequencies (Tr = 1.49s)
- A 620 m3 multi-station open space with prolonged reverberation times (Tr = 3.13s)
- Three meeting rooms of 58 m3 each with poor speech intelligibility (Tr = 1.96s)
To resolve these acoustic issues and optimise the sound comfort of the rooms, customised treatment solutions with Caruso Acoustic sound-absorbing panels were simulated.
In the reception area, 10 Silente sound-absorbing panels measuring 120x120cm for the walls, resulting in an average Tr reduction to 0.65s (sound level reduction of -3.62dB).
In the open space, 14 Flag acoustic panels for the ceiling, 6 Scriba panels on the desks, 2 free-standing D-Space partition panels and 7 Silente panels for the walls. With this configuration, the average Tr decreases to 1.02s, with a sound level reduction of -4.86dB).
Finally, for each meeting room 3 Silente ceiling-hung panels and 1 Menhir sound-absorbing totem made it possible to achieve an average Tr of 0.71s (-4.44dB).
Reception:
Openspace:
Meeting room:
This case study demonstrates the effectiveness of Caruso Acoustic solutions in the acoustic treatment of coworking environments, thanks to proposals tailored to the specific critical issues of each environment. With adequate acoustic comfort, dynamic and comfortable workspaces can be created.