Ben Hancock of Oscar Acoustics looks at the importance of employee welfare when redesigning workspaces, and the challenges involved
As waves of workers are now returning to offices, employers are under increasing pressure to ensure workspaces are not just safe, but inviting. In the wake of the pandemic and having spent months at home, employees’ expectations of what an office environment should look, sound and feel like, have changed. But are employers doing all they can to fulfil these needs, and what are the experiences of architects who have been tasked with redesigning office workspace?
Prioritising employee welfare
There is no doubt that the transformation of current workspaces is a challenge.
Often working in rooms where rubbing shoulders with colleagues was the norm pre-pandemic, renovations in limited space were never going to be easy. Yet despite the growing awareness around office safety and the impact that noise can have on employee health, some companies undergoing office restructures are still falling short of the mark in the decision-making process. In fact, according to our recently commissioned research, which surveyed over 200 architects on the challenges of transforming workspace, almost half reported that “clients are not interested in ‘end user health’.” This was despite them being offered guidance and expertise to the contrary. This is a worrying statistic, given that a reported two in five employees plan to embrace ‘hybrid’ working by 2023.
Further challenges
With safety a number one priority, creating an effective post-Covid office space requires more than just social distancing measures. Companies need to design spaces where collaborative working can take place with ease, and where much-missed social interaction can be safely reintroduced. Architects are also facing further challenges, particularly when it comes to budgets to ensure work is carried out properly. According to our research, two in five architects (40%) stated that ‘inadequate budgets’ was the main challenge when working on office fit outs. For architects, this presents a tricky situation: appease a client set on a box ticking exercise, or push for a truly comfortable and safe work environment?
Importance of acoustic health
What is clear is that the impact of acoustic health within offices is still being underestimated. Without adequate acoustic treatment, a workspace can quickly turn into a noisy and stressful environment, compromising employee comfort and undoing all the benefits of expensive office revamps.
Studies have highlighted the impact excessive noise can have on physical and psychological health and it can be a major contributor to reduced productivity at work. Poor office acoustics can also lead to employees taking more sick days, which has a serious knock-on effect on business efficiency. This fact is not lost on architects either as, according to our report, just 9% of architects felt acoustic design is “given the attention it deserves by clients.”
Worrying still, is the work needed within the architectural community to ensure that acoustic health is given the correct attention. From our survey, only around one quarter of respondents (27%) could correctly identify which peak sound pressure should not be exceeded (87 Db), whilst 16% were unaware of any health risk associated with excessive or reverberant noise.
Wellness & duty of care
It is clear from our research that further education for companies looking to install office fitouts is needed, particularly around acoustic health. However, architects also have a role to play in raising the awareness of the impact and dangers of excessive reverberant sound. Fortunately, there are a range of architectural acoustic finishes for ceilings and walls – including sprays and plasters – that can help architects in their mission to create calm and inviting spaces without breaking client’s budgets. Quick installation times and a guarantee of minimal disruption can often help sway the vote too.
In a landscape where businesses need to be operating at a higher efficiency within increasingly competitive markets, it may be well worth architects fighting the corner for improvements to office acoustics. By doing so, clients can be sure that their costly fitouts are fit for purpose and that they do not find their reimagined spaces plagued by noisy and disruptive sound.
A silver lining to the challenges presented by the pandemic is the window of opportunity we have been given to undo some of the biggest challenges faced with working environments. With the right due care and consideration both architects and clients can ensure office-based employees feel safe and comfortable in the months and years to follow.
Ben Hancock is managing director at Oscar Acoustics