An Office Renovation with Purpose

A move from the traditional floor plan

After extensive renovation, the Rockfon office in the city of Roermond in the Netherlands reopened in 2023. An area of 700 square metres was transformed into an activity-based workplace by Judith Muijtjens, founder of the design firm Wonderful Day Design. Whether focus areas or collaboration zones, team members can now choose where to work from while enjoying the varied features of the acoustic solutions that they’ve helped to build and shape.

"Practice what you preach"

Initial plans to renovate the Rockfon office sprouted in 2019 when an internal survey revealed that employees were facing difficulties concentrating due to a noisy working environment primarily caused by wall-to-wall sound leakage. Their focus flows were regularly disturbed by the conversations that they could hear from adjacent rooms.

Additionally, the traditional floor plan wasn’t optimised and there was a poor balance between areas for independent work, collaboration, and breakout. “Employees often achieved more work from home than at the office,” explains Roger Dezaire, Commercial Director Benelux at Rockfon.

It became evident that the team members wanted to see their workplace improved. As the world's leading acoustic company, Rockfon stands for excellence in acoustic performance, indoor environmental quality, and occupant well-being. An office that lacks across those facets needed to be remedied. “We approached their complaints with the motto of ‘practice what you preach’”.

Developing acoustic comfort for everyone

To optimise the acoustic environment in the open workspace, Judith Muijtjens collaborated with the acoustic consultancy Level Acoustics.

The acoustic ceiling solutions selected for the office renovation included Rockfon Eclipse floating ceiling islands in Sand, Stucco, Petal, Coral, and Sandalwood that complement one another and create a compelling palette. Rockfon Blanka ceiling tiles contribute to high light reflection and light diffusion across the working areas. Rockfon Color-all acoustic ceiling tiles in Scarlet add understated luxury to various areas.

The team encountered challenges working around structural elements such as the columns and the restrictions of a 2.4-metre maximum ceiling height. They also had to make the cooling installations as compact as possible, which required precise measurements.

Across the walls, Rockfon Lamella wooden modular systems in the circulation areas introduce nature-inspired warmth, complementing the Scarlet of Rockfon Color-all. Rockfon Canva wall panels jigsaw together to create calming imagery of nature, such as an aquatic scene and a soft landscape. Finally, Rockfon Senses acoustic wall panels bring in tactile natural surfaces as the warm finishing touch.

A remarkable outcome

Since the re-opening of the Rockfon office in Roermond, employees have been coming in more frequently despite the availability of work-from-home options – attesting to the success of Judith Muijtjens’ renovation concept.

“The new office has been open for weeks now and I have yet to encounter anyone who is dissatisfied”, said Dezaire. “Team members can now personally experience the value of excellent acoustic comfort and see how our products shape it”.

“The outcome is remarkable”, added facility manager Marcel Hundscheidt. “Initial plans are already underway to extend such an activity-based concept to other departments and buildings within ROCKWOOL Group".