Indoor Plants Absorb Noise in Offices
More and more workplaces are beginning to realise that plants are more than just an attractive decor piece for the office but that they hold real health benefits for employee, including soothing symptoms of colds, lowering anxiety levels and even helping with depression. But beyond psychological and physical attributes, adding greenery to the office can also help to keep it a quieter, calmer and more productive place to work.
According to a recent article in AllWork, 'plants help direct and guide energy in spaces; they help balance each individual’s energy among electronic devices' which help to invoke a more peaceful environment alongside the tranquil green, a colour which is known to be particularly calming. With modern workplaces embracing the open plan, sleek look, a surprising issue has started to manifest - noise. Co-working office providing company WeWork found that noise constantly reverberated off their open plan, glass panelled work spaces.
However, there's no need to revert back to the cubicle style offices, plants enable you to work in a stylish office without the added concern of noise. This is because in addition to offering visual privacy by creating non-intimating partitions between employees' work spaces, plants have been proven to absorb noise and thereby and workers from a software company commented on the difference in noise levels.
The three ways that plants are able to do this are through sounds absorption, sound deflection and sound refraction:
Sound Absorption
The roots, leaves, trunks and stems of foliage are all able to absorb sound. They do this by trapping reverberation and vibration levels, being most effective in areas that have hard surfaces. Plants that have thick rough bark or fleshy leaves are best at reducing noises in this method.
Sound Deflection
Sound deflection occurs when instead of hitting the hard walls which enable noise to reverberate, it hits an object, such as a plant, that allows the waves to be transformed into different kinds of energy and thereby deflecting the energy into different directions.
Sound Refraction
Much like carpeting a home, covering surfaces with plenty of greenery prevents sound waves from bouncing around the room. This then helps to eliminate echos and excess noise.
At Funky Yukka, we offer a stylish range of barriers and troughs, perfecting for creating privacy for workers and allowing sound to be absorbed, thereby creating a happier, healthier and more efficient office. Or, if you'd like to take the biophilic design one step further, checking our living foliage and moss walls. These not only look incredibly striking, they will help to refract noise around the office.