Open-plan office noise: Cognitive performance and restoration

What the study found

Higher office noise impaired word memory and increased tiredness; restorative content after exposure helped recover perceived energy.

Limitations

Small laboratory sample; sound levels and task set represent only some office contexts.

Neurodesign interpretation

Acoustic harm is often informational, not just loudness-based. A lower-level intelligible conversation can cost more attention than a louder non-speech sound.

Possible design implications

Design for speech control and recovery zones, not merely average dBA reduction.

Why it stays in the corpus

Retain as a direct cognitive-cost study for open-plan acoustics.

Study design

Controlled noise exposure

Population

47 adult participants

Setting

Simulated open-plan office

Field

Acoustics

Mechanism

Auditory distraction, cognitive fatigue, restoration

Spatial variable

Office noise level and character

Keywords

open plan, noise, memory, fatigue, restoration