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Why open-plan offices break concentration

When a workplace moves into open plan, the work that staff lose to noise can double, and how clearly nearby speech carries predicts that cost better than sheer volume.

By Christian Huser, in The Built Review · 01 Jul 2026 · 13 min read · 25 named sources

What’s inside
  1. Key findings
  2. The measure that predicts the damage
  3. Why sound level is a poor guide
  4. Following the damage through the office
  5. Where the effect gives way
  6. What the evidence cannot yet settle
  7. Implications
  8. Methodology

Plus 5 key data points, each with its source.

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