Acoustic Design for Beiersdorf’s Offices in Shanghai

The Delhom Acoustics team in China had the privilege to bring acoustic design for offices in Shanghai, this time for the skincare leader and mother of world-famous brands Nivea, Eucerin, and La Prairie: Beiersdorf.

Moving into a new premise where their offices & laboratory facilities merged into one multi-function space meant there would be quite a “sound challenge”. Therefore, JLL hired us for a complete acoustic study, which was crucial to prevent and avoid future acoustic issues.

Each area in a workspace provides a different function and communication styles between staff vary. While some parts of the laboratories are quieter environments where concentration and focus are key, other parts of the lab use equipment that runs throughout the day, causing noise which needs to be addressed in order to avoid noise issues in quieter areas nearby. Modern offices on the other hand promote exchanges through open conversations, while still requiring some mitigation of sound distractions for an optimized employee well-being and performance.

Our mission thus encompassed:

1. Privacy for enclosed spaces by blocking the noise to travel to adjacent areas by insulating the different spaces.
2. Speech clarity and confidentiality in open spaces by controlling reverberation times.
3. Control of the background noise generated by the HVAC by diminishing the noise inside the air network system.

If we could highlight one of the many challenges from this project, it would most likely be the close cooperation with the interior designers and contractors to make sure the acoustic inputs would not influence their renderings’ aesthetics. For example, we found acoustic materials with an identical finish to the initial design intentions, to create a working environment that looks as good as it sounds.

To add to the excitement, the project achieved LEED requirements, with the acoustics worth two full points! In the end, Beiersdorf achieved not only optimal sound comfort but also the highest standards.

Thanks to JLL, the interior designers, the general contractors and Beiersdorf’s teams for their support, we made this project good for the ears and once again helped to hear the difference!