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Wall Panels for Office Buildings

Open offices are loud. Conference rooms echo. Phone rooms don't provide enough privacy. Wall panels solve all three problems. Here's how we approach acoustical wall treatment in commercial office buildings.

The Open Office Noise Problem

The shift to open-plan offices saved money on construction but created a massive acoustics problem. Without walls and doors separating workers, conversations travel freely. Phone calls are audible three desks away. Concentration drops. Productivity falls 5–15% in poorly-treated open offices.

Ceiling tiles absorb sound from above, but in open offices, sound also bounces between walls, columns, and glass partitions at ear level. Wall panels catch that horizontal sound energy that ceiling treatment misses. Read the full picture in our open office acoustics guide and the cost of bad office acoustics.

Where Wall Panels Go in an Office

You don't need panels on every wall. Strategic placement gets 80% of the benefit at a fraction of full coverage:

  • Conference rooms: Panels on at least two walls (ideally opposite walls) eliminate flutter echo and improve speech clarity for in-person and video meetings. Fabric-wrapped fiberglass panels are the standard here.
  • End walls in open areas: The walls at the ends of long open-plan floors reflect sound back the length of the space. Panels here reduce the echo tunnel effect.
  • Columns: Wrapping structural columns with acoustic panels is one of the most efficient placements — columns are in the middle of the open floor where sound absorption is most needed.
  • Partition walls: Short partition walls between work zones can be faced with acoustic material to absorb rather than reflect.
  • Phone room and huddle room walls: These small rooms need absorption to prevent the "talking in a box" feeling and improve call quality.

Panel Types for Offices

  • Fabric-wrapped fiberglass: The workhorse. NRC 0.85–1.05 at 1"–2" thickness. Hundreds of fabric options. See our wall panel guide.
  • PET felt panels: Thinner, lighter, more design-forward. Popular in modern offices for their clean look and color range. NRC 0.30–0.60. See felt wall panels.
  • Wood slat panels: Acoustic felt backing behind wood slats. Premium look for reception areas and executive floors. See wood grille wall panels.
  • Stretch wall systems: Fabric stretched over a track system. Seamless look for large walls. See stretch wall panels.

Combining Wall and Ceiling Treatment

The best office acoustics come from treating both surfaces. A typical approach:

  • High-NRC ceiling tiles (NRC 0.70+) across the full office — see our best ceiling options for open offices
  • Wall panels at key reflection points (25–40% of wall area)
  • Sound masking system for additional speech privacy
  • Clouds or baffles in areas with exposed ceilings

This combination achieves background noise levels and speech privacy targets that satisfy most occupants.

Design Integration

Office wall panels don't have to look like acoustic treatment. Modern options include:

  • Branded panels with company colors
  • Printed fabric panels with artwork or graphics
  • Geometric felt shapes creating feature walls
  • Wood slat accent walls that double as sound absorption

The design possibilities are covered in our wall panel design guide.

Cost for Office Wall Panels

  • Fabric-wrapped fiberglass: $8–$20/SF installed
  • PET felt: $10–$25/SF installed
  • Wood slat: $25–$60/SF installed
  • Stretch wall: $15–$35/SF installed

For a 5,000 SF open office, treating 1,500 SF of wall area with fabric-wrapped panels runs $12,000–$30,000 installed. That's a fraction of the productivity loss from bad acoustics. See our broader cost guide.

Get an Office Acoustic Assessment

Elite Acoustics Inc evaluates office spaces across Sacramento and Northern California and recommends the right combination of ceiling and wall treatment for your budget. Contact us for a free consultation.

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