How to reduce noise in an open plan office: 10 options ranked
To reduce noise in an open plan office, combine three approaches: absorb sound with acoustic ceilings, panels and soft finishes; block it with screens, zoning and enclosed spaces; and cover residual speech with background sound. Start with low-cost changes to layout and etiquette, then add absorption, and give calls and meetings their own space in phone booths or meeting pods.
Key takeaways
- Only 35% of office employees in Leesman’s database are satisfied with noise levels, while 70% say noise levels are important to them.
- The US General Services Administration’s “ABC” method (absorb, block, cover) is a practical framework for ranking options.
- Absorption alone does not stop calls being overheard; enclosed space for calls and meetings removes the loudest source from the open floor.
- Measure before and after: ISO 3382-3 gives open-plan metrics such as distraction distance and spatial decay rate.
Why is noise such a persistent problem in open plan offices?
Noise is persistent because the main source in an open plan office is speech, and speech travels across open floors that are often built from hard, reflective surfaces. Conversations and calls are hard to ignore, even at low volume, because the brain tries to follow intelligible words.
Employee surveys reflect this. Leesman’s analysis of 601,570 office employees between 2022 and 2025 found that only 35% were satisfied with noise levels, while 70% said noise levels were important to them (Leesman, 2026). The gap between employees satisfied and dissatisfied with noise was 46 percentage points on whether the workplace “enables me to work productively”. Satisfaction has barely moved in recent years.
Earlier US government research reached similar conclusions. In a baseline survey of 3,700 respondents reported by the US General Services Administration, 60% said they could get more done if it were quieter and 50% said noise kept them from being as productive as they could be (US General Services Administration, 2011). The same guide sets out the “ABC” approach used in this article: absorb, block and cover. For the wider research on how speech noise affects concentration and wellbeing, see our article on office noise and productivity.
Open layouts also change how people behave around noise. In two field studies at large companies moving to open-plan space, Ethan Bernstein and Stephen Turban found face-to-face interaction fell by about 70%, while email use rose, as summarised by the British Psychological Society’s Research Digest (2018). One reading is that people avoid talking when everyone can hear them. Giving conversations a proper place, rather than banning them, is part of the fix.
How do you measure open plan office noise before changing anything?
Measure with the open-plan metrics in ISO 3382-3, plus a simple occupant survey, so you can tell which measures worked. Without a baseline, it is hard to judge whether a ceiling upgrade or new pods made a difference.
ISO 3382-3 describes how quickly speech level and intelligibility fall away with distance across a furnished open-plan office. Key measures include the spatial decay rate of speech per doubling of distance (D2,S), the distraction distance (rD, where the speech transmission index falls to 0.50) and the comfort distance (rC, where speech falls to 45 dB). MathWorks’ summary of the 2022 edition’s informative annex lists good conditions in a typical furnished office in use as a distraction distance under 5 m, a spatial decay rate above 8 dB and background noise between 40 and 45 dB (MathWorks, 2026). An acoustic consultant can carry out the measurements.
What are the 10 ways to reduce noise, ranked by cost and impact?
The cheapest measures are behavioural and layout changes; the highest-impact measures for speech are absorption across the ceiling and enclosed space for calls and meetings. The table ranks ten options by typical cost and the type of noise they address.
| Rank | Measure | ABC type | Relative cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Agree call and meeting etiquette | Block (behaviour) | Very low | Desk calls, ad hoc chats |
| 2 | Zone the floor into quiet and active areas | Block (distance) | Low | Separating focus work from collaboration |
| 3 | Move noisy equipment and kitchens | Block (distance) | Low | Printers, coffee machines, breakout |
| 4 | Add soft furnishings and carpet | Absorb | Low to medium | Footfall, general reverberation |
| 5 | Wall and desk-mounted acoustic panels | Absorb | Medium | Reflections near desks |
| 6 | Desk screens at seated-privacy height | Block | Medium | Direct speech between neighbours |
| 7 | Upgrade to a highly absorptive ceiling | Absorb | Medium to high | Speech carrying across the floor |
| 8 | Sound masking system | Cover | Medium to high | Intelligibility of distant speech |
| 9 | Phone booths for calls | Block (enclosure) | Medium per unit | Video and phone calls |
| 10 | Meeting pods or enclosed rooms | Block (enclosure) | Medium to high | Group discussions, hybrid meetings |
Costs are relative and depend on floor size and existing finishes. Most offices need a mix: the low-cost measures set expectations, the absorptive measures lower overall reverberation, and enclosed spaces take the loudest activities out of the open floor.
Options 1 to 3: etiquette, zoning and layout
The fastest improvements come from deciding where noisy activities happen. These changes cost little and make every later measure more effective.
1. Agree etiquette. Agree simple norms: calls and video meetings go to booths or meeting spaces, long conversations move away from desks, and headphones signal focus. Etiquette only works when there is somewhere else to go, which is why it pairs with options 9 and 10.
2. Zone the floor. Group teams with similar work patterns, and put quiet focus zones at the far end of the floor from entrances, kitchens and breakout areas. Distance costs nothing and reduces speech levels, especially in a room with good absorption.
3. Move noise sources. Printers, coffee machines, tea points and reception desks generate both noise and foot traffic. Leesman found large satisfaction gaps between employees who are satisfied and dissatisfied with noise on “movement of people past my workstation” (55 percentage points) and “space between work settings” (56 points), which suggests circulation routes and spacing matter as much as the noise itself.
Options 4 to 7: absorption and screens
Absorption reduces reverberation and stops speech building up across the floor; screens interrupt the direct path between neighbours. The ceiling is usually the largest and most effective absorbing surface.
4. Soft furnishings. Carpet, upholstered seating and fabric pinboards reduce footfall noise and some reflections. They are useful but cover only a small part of the room’s surfaces.
5. Acoustic panels. Wall-mounted and desk-mounted panels, often made from compressed PET felt, absorb reflections close to people. They help most near hard walls, glazing and columns. Absorption is rated by the weighted coefficient αw and grouped into classes under EN ISO 11654, from Class A (0.90 to 1.00) to Class E (0.15 to 0.25), as summarised by Arup (2026).
6. Desk screens. Screens between facing desks interrupt direct speech, but height has limits. The GSA guide recommends a maximum of 51 inches (about 1.3 m) for seated privacy and notes that higher panels are not recommended. Screens work best combined with an absorptive ceiling, because speech otherwise reflects over the top.
7. Absorptive ceiling. The GSA guide specifies a minimum NRC of 0.9 for open-plan office ceilings and 0.8 for meeting rooms. If your ceiling is plasterboard or exposed concrete, an upgrade or suspended rafts usually produce the largest single improvement in how far speech carries. For the difference between absorbing sound and isolating it, see our comparison of acoustic panels and office pods.
Option 8: sound masking
Sound masking adds a steady, unobtrusive background sound through ceiling speakers so that distant speech becomes less intelligible. It covers rather than removes noise, and it needs careful tuning.
The GSA guide recommends electronic masking at 45 to 48 dBA in open-plan workspaces and 40 to 42 dBA in private offices for normal speech privacy. Masking is most useful in quiet offices where distant speech is still clear; in a floor that is already loud, adding sound can make matters worse. ISO 3382-3 background noise targets of 40 to 45 dB are a sensible reference point, and a consultant should commission the system and check comfort with occupants.
Options 9 and 10: phone booths and meeting pods
Enclosed spaces are the most direct fix for the loudest open-plan activity, which is people talking: on calls, on video, and in small groups. A booth or pod takes the conversation out of the room rather than trying to soften it.
9. Phone booths. A single booth needs about one square metre of floor (around W1000 × D1000 mm for our standard models) and moves video calls away from desks. Factory-rated noise reduction for the pods we supply ranges from about 30 to 45 dB depending on the model; our explainer on how soundproof office pods are covers what those figures mean in practice. Browse our office phone booths, and use our guide to phone booths per employee to size the order.
10. Meeting pods. Two- to four-person pods give hybrid teams somewhere to hold short meetings without booking a full room. The Smart Twin pod (W2200 × D1200 × H2200 mm) suits pairs, and larger meeting pods seat four to eight. Because pods are freestanding, they can be added to a leased floor without building work and moved later.
Which combination works best?
Most offices get the best results by combining a good ceiling, sensible zoning and enough enclosed space for calls. Each part covers a gap the others leave.
A practical sequence:
- Survey staff and take ISO 3382-3 measurements to set a baseline.
- Agree etiquette and zone the floor; move noisy equipment.
- Add enough phone booths and small meeting pods so that etiquette is realistic.
- Improve absorption, starting with the ceiling, then walls near hard surfaces.
- Consider masking only once absorption is in place, and commission it carefully.
- Re-measure and re-survey after three to six months.
The order matters. Adding masking to a reverberant floor raises overall sound levels without fixing the cause, and adding booths without agreeing how they are used can leave them empty while calls continue at desks. Booking rules also help: short, walk-in use for booths and bookable slots for meeting pods keep both available when they are needed.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest way to reduce noise in an open plan office?
Agreeing etiquette and zoning the floor cost little. They work best when there are booths or rooms for calls, so people have somewhere to go.
Do acoustic panels stop people hearing phone calls?
No. Panels absorb reflections and reduce reverberation, but nearby colleagues still hear direct speech. An enclosed booth is needed to contain a call.
Is sound masking worth it?
It can be in quiet offices where distant speech is clear. The GSA guide recommends 45 to 48 dBA in open-plan areas. It should follow, not replace, absorption and zoning.
How many phone booths does an open plan office need?
It depends on headcount, hybrid patterns and how many calls staff take. Our guide to phone booths per employee sets out planning ratios by work style.
Conclusion
Reducing open plan noise works best as a sequence: measure, set expectations, absorb, and give calls and meetings their own space. Booths and meeting pods are the quickest way to remove speech from the floor without construction. To plan the right mix for your layout, request a quote with your floor plan and headcount.
Sources
- Leesman – Noisy spaces, quiet consequences (accessed October 2026)
- US General Services Administration – Sound Matters: how to achieve acoustic comfort in the contemporary office (accessed October 2026)
- MathWorks – Comfort distance and distraction distance (ISO 3382-3) (accessed October 2026)
- Arup – Absorption class (EN ISO 11654) (accessed October 2026)
- British Psychological Society Research Digest – Open-plan offices drive down face-to-face interactions and increase use of email (accessed October 2026)