Suncorp - 10 Shelley Street
Cool vibe. Calm zen.
Designed by WMK Architecture to better connect the former KPMG building to its modernising Barangaroo neighbours, Suncorp’s 10 Shelley Street injected contemporary interior design, new improved entries, upgraded facilities and an impressive entertainment rooftop space to the building.
However as many high-performance workspaces discover, Suncorp’s desire for both productivity and privacy began to unevenly compete. Workers were interrupting one another.
We made the sound of concentration harmonise with that of collaboration.
45dB installed a sound masking system throughout the office open-plan and cellular meeting spaces. By carefully calibrating the sound to cover the same frequencies of speech, the detail of conversations was reduced. So whilst at close quarters conversation continued unimpeded, conversations further away were rendered distant and unintelligible.
While sound masking techniques have existed for many years, the systems employed today are highly sophisticated and remain unnoticed by the users they benefit. Our solution optimised audible distance between workers, allowing them to enjoy times of uninterrupted quiet focus.
Sound masking blends into the sounds already in each space, emitting an unobtrusive background sound similar to that of air conditioning. It operates through a network of speakers in the ceiling space, so it isn’t noticed.
Sound conditioning
Sound conditioning decreases the intelligibility of speech. Local conversations are clearly heard but those further away merge into the background. The resulting space aids productivity by reducing overall levels of interruption. As opposed to an overly quiet workspace where workers whisper to each other so they don’t interrupt others, a sound conditioned space is a more vibrant one where staff can get on with robust business activity