Forest to Focus

We design workplaces for what we can see…but what about what we hear? Humans evolved in rich, adaptive natural soundscapes that signal safety, rhythm, and time. Today, many interiors are dominated by mechanical hum, overlapping speech, and digital alerts...often enough to trigger stress responses, erode focus and reduce satisfaction, especially in open-plan environments.

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This panel explores sound as a design material: how it shapes wellbeing, cognition and productivity, and how biophilic sound strategies can create calmer, more inclusive workplaces. Featuring perspectives from acoustics, psychology, design and building systems, we’ll share practical approaches and real-world examples—plus a few “listen differently” moments you’ll feel immediately. Hosted in-studio.