Office Design: Acoustics and Lighting, the Two Factors That Decide Productivity

Noise and insufficient light are the two factors that bother employees most. In many office projects the visual design is solved first while acoustics and lighting are left to the end, which hurts both cost and satisfaction.

Acoustics: echo and privacy

The target reverberation time (RT60) in an open plan is below 0.6 seconds. Achieving it requires acoustic ceiling panels with NRC 0.8 or higher, carpet tiles and absorbing wall linings. Screens should be at least 1.4 m high to block the voice of a seated person.

For speech privacy you need phone booths (30 dB insulation) and closed meeting rooms (45–52 dB). One booth per 12–15 people is enough for most offices.

Lighting: 500 lux and glare control

For screen-based work surfaces the target is 500 lux. Fixtures with UGR below 19 prevent screen glare. Systems that tune colour temperature, such as 4000 K in the morning and 3500 K in the afternoon, support attention.

Daylight

Desks should be no more than 6 metres from a window, and curtains should let light through while breaking glare. Daylight-sensing dimming reduces energy use by 25–35%.

Budget impact

Acoustics and lighting typically make up 12–18% of the office fit-out budget. For a 1,000 m² floor this is ₺3–5 million, but adding them later multiplies the cost by 1.5–2.

Measurement

After handover we measure sound level and lux and document that targets were reached. These reports can also be used in corporate ISO 45001 audits.

Special cases in hybrid work

With hybrid working, desk occupancy is 55–65%, so space per person falls while demand for meeting rooms rises. That is why we plan 14 meeting rooms and 9 phone booths for a team of 190. Rooms should be mixed in 4-, 6- and 10-person sizes; a single large type lowers utilisation.

Small interventions, big difference

In an existing office, even without a full refit, adding acoustic panels to walls and ceilings, using carpet tiles and swapping fixtures for 4000 K LEDs brings a visible improvement in 6–8 weeks at ₺1,500–2,500 per m².