Background
In the heart of Stockholm you’ll find Arena Sergel, with four floors and several thousand square meters of office, lounge areas and common facilities. This is where Vasakronan’s headquarter is located, together with a co-working office with 150 flex workplaces, over 30 meeting rooms and several lounge areas. Here, function and health are in focus with modern interior created by Kanozi Arkitekter – nothing has been left to chance – nor the sound environment.
Assignment
Efterklang was assigned to design a functional and attractive sound environment in order to avoid the classic pitfalls that exist in open-plan offices. The key has been a well-balanced interplay between acoustic measures and psychoacoustically anchored sound design.
Result
Different employees have different needs in a workplace. Some thrive best in total silence, while others are most productive when there is a little background noise and movement around them. It can also vary from day to day and depends on what tasks you have. Therefore, we created a gradient sound environment for every conceivable need: From completely silent focus areas without any disrupting elements, via open flex spaces with nature-inspired sound masking, to pure background music in the lounge areas.
There are no determined workplaces here, so all employees can choose the sound environment that suits them best for the day. In addition to the purely functional perspective, we wanted to create an environment where sound played an equivalent role to the overall experience as interior design and lighting design.
We have also created surprising and interactive sound experiences, such as birdsong and sound from nature in the internal stairwell, different sound scenarios in the restrooms and a tassel which triggers unexpected sound effects once you pull it.
All in all, Arena Sergel consists of four floors with soundscapes for all needs and functions, which enables everyone to choose the sound environment that suits them best for the day.
Images: Cecilia Magnusson och Vasakronan
Awards
International Sound Awards 2022
Better Sound – Universal Design
Better Sound – Soundscapes & Ambient Sound
Red Dot Design Awards 2022
Red Dot
