From August 31st to September 2nd, the Workspace 2020 Exhibition once again gathered thousands of visitors eager to discover new technologies and dozens of companies displayed the latest market trends on wellbeing at work. Our topic this year: Improving well-being at work through acoustic design in offices.
Venturing through the crowded alleys, like a promenade in a Bazaar, curious minds visited booths & stands, mesmerized by the various exhibits.
At the heart of this bustling convention, our Delhom Acoustics Shanghai team welcomed participants to the Acoustic Experience Center.
When Acoustic Design Meets Visual Art
Standing out amongst the crowd, a series of paintings & pictures ornated the façade of the Center’s outer walls. These works of art – from world-renowned artist Basmat Levin, and uniquely gifted photographer Fabiola De Felip – were in fact printed acoustic panels. An optical illusion that baffled designers as they walked by!
These frames-turned-acoustic-panels came to life thanks to a fruitful cooperation with Zenfeel & Greensonic. They printed the artworks on their custom-sized products. The results are both visually and acoustically super impressive!
The Acoustic Experimental Center
As guests entered our pavilion and made their way past the bright orange entrance corridor, the atmosphere transformed into an oasis of tranquility. Inside, comfort & focus reigned over the space.
The open-space office was located at the center of the peaceful haven. It welcomed guests with casual seating, wine and delicious croissants from Pain Chaud Bakery. Further down you could spot tables for co-working purposes.
Directly to the right and at the back of the open-space area stood a series of meeting rooms, closed offices, big and small.
At first glance, both closed office spaces looked visually identical, however, upon entering, you could feel a totally different experience.
The Reverberation Experimental Room
Although the interior design looked the same, in one room conversations with fellow visitors and our team were completely clear and easy to understand. There was no need to raise your voice to be heard! In the room next door however, words were barely understandable and felt messy. This was due to too much echo!
This was the Reverberation & Speech Intelligibility experiment.
The Insulation Experimental Room
In another room, conversations were totally shielded from outside noise and remained confidential. Inside this room, as an added bonus, Fabiola’s art appeared on acoustic panels. The neighboring closed office however wasn’t so lucky. Invaded by noise coming from the adjacent spaces, there was no sense of privacy.
The Delhom Acoustics Team and their partners guided guests through the different experimental areas. They explained how they managed to achieve such a level of comfort & productivity while respecting the interior design. EDS worked on the interior design of the booth. The challenge here was to conceive spaces that looked visually identical but that felt acoustically completely different when exploring them.
The Workshop: Improving Wellbeing Through Acoustic Comfort
In addition to the Center, on the afternoon of the first day, our Founder & CEO Mr. Jean-Philippe Delhom spoke about acoustic design in offices. He touched on the benefits, the challenges, and tips & tricks on how acoustic comfort at work can be implemented for better well-being. All that without impacting the interior design!
Finally, we asked visitors to fill in a survey about acoustics & their wellbeing at work. We found out that a staggering 92.5% reported facing noise issues at work! This means acoustic design in offices should definitely be taken care of when designing new projects!
On the bright side, results exceeded our expectations as visitors gave their feedback on the Acoustic Experience Center. 100% stated that they learned something new during their time at our pavilion, with 43% interested to hear more about this captivating science!
Workspace2020 Visitors’ Testimonials
“Thanks for the wonderful introduction, it was quite an experience. It actually made my day”
“Thank you so much for showing me around your Acoustic Center, what you and your company do is really creative and meaningful, and of course very helpful. I’m sure anyone who has been there must be more aware of acoustic issues and conscious of finding solutions for them, it was very kind of you to explain it to me!”
“Thank you for your introduction. Your perfect showroom brings me closer to acoustics! Very unforgettable experience.”
A Special Thank You
For these magical three days to happen smoothly, and for the Acoustic Experience Center to achieve such a level of success, we would like to thank every one of our partners who participated, including EDS for the interior design, Artists Basmat Levin & Fabiola de Felip for graciously sharing their amazing paintings & photographs, and all acoustic material suppliers thanks to whom this would not have been possible: AIRBUTLER, BALSAN, FOREST BRIGHT, GREENSONIC, LEANON, SOUNDBOX, SHURE, STUDIO ILLUMINE, ROO SAR, ZENFEEL, ZUMTOBEL & THORN LIGHTING and MAXHUB.
Lastly, we would like to thank all the curious visitors who came to learn about acoustics, it was a pleasure to discuss this fascinating topic.
Stay tuned for the next exhibition!
Want to see more acoustic design & interior design co-operations? Check out our ELEMENT PLUS office project!