Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea (대한건축학회논문집)

Architectural Institute of Korea (대한건축학회)
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Effects of Suspended Hemispherical Acoustic Absorbers on Speech Privacy in Open Plan Offices

반구형 천장 흡음재 형상 및 흡음률 변화에 따른 오픈 플랜 오피스의 스피치 프라이버시 영향

  • Kim, Geon-Hee (Dept. of Architectural Engineering, Chungnam University) ;
  • Moon, Wan-Ki (Dept. of Architectural Engineering, Chungnam University) ;
  • An, Su-Kyeong (Dept. of Architectural Engineering, Chungnam University) ;
  • Jang, Seo-Jin (Dept. of Architectural Engineering, Chungnam University) ;
  • Hong, Joo-Young (Dept. of Architectural Engineering, Chungnam University)
  • Received : 2023.07.07
  • Accepted : 2023.09.20
  • Published : 2023.10.30
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Abstract

Recently, open plan office design has been increasingly adopted to improve communication and productivity of employees. However, some studies revealed that they can harm user satisfaction and speech privacy. Therefore, this study aims to utilize the ceiling-type hemispherical sound absorption system to enhance speech privacy in open plan offices by finding the optimal acoustic form. As design factors, the radius and absorption coefficients of the hemispherical acoustic absorbers were manipulated. The independent variable was modeled in nine cases by varying the radius (0.50 m, 0.75 m, 1.00 m) and sound absorption coefficients (0.10, 0.45, 0.80) of the hemispherical acoustic absorbers. Acoustic simulation was conducted to assess the effects of radius and sound absorption on speech privacy indicators (rP, rD, LpAS4m) for open plan offices. The results indicate that higher values of radius and absorption generally result in increased speech privacy for rD and rP. Specifically, there was a difference of 3.08 m for maximum rD and 7.40 m for rP. Regarding the enhancement of speech privacy, it was found that the radius of the absorber had a greater impact on speech privacy than sound absorption. Based on the results, the best speech privacy can be achieved when the radius was 1.00 m and the absorption coefficient was 0.80.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

이 연구는 2023년도 충남대학교 학술연구비에 의해 지원되었음. 과제번호:2023-0696-01

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