The role of background music in architecture studios

Designing for Focus: The Role of Background Music in Architecture Studios

23 October 2026

Step inside a busy architecture studio and you’ll find several very different activities taking place. One architect might be refining a detailed set of technical drawings, another developing concepts for a new project, while a group of colleagues gathers around a table to discuss materials and design proposals.

Although these activities happen within the same workplace, they require different levels of concentration, creativity and collaboration.

Architects spend considerable time considering how people experience the buildings they design, including the relationship between sound and space. Yet the acoustic environment of their own studios deserves just as much attention.

Background music is one element of that environment. When introduced thoughtfully, it can contribute to a pleasant working atmosphere, but its suitability depends on the people, tasks and spaces involved.

The Architecture Studio Is Not a Single Working Environment

An architecture studio rarely serves just one purpose. It must accommodate focused individual work, creative experimentation, technical coordination, client meetings and informal discussions throughout the day.

These activities can have conflicting acoustic requirements.

An architect reviewing construction details may need extended periods without interruption. Meanwhile, colleagues working through an early design concept might prefer a more informal environment where conversation and the exchange of ideas happen naturally.

Physical model-making areas introduce another consideration, with equipment, materials and practical activities producing their own background sounds.

Open-plan studios can make communication easier, but they can also allow conversations and other distractions to travel across the workspace.

For this reason, treating the entire studio as one continuous acoustic environment may not provide the most comfortable conditions for everyone.

Instead, music should be considered alongside the arrangement of workstations, meeting spaces, acoustic treatments and quieter areas intended for concentrated work.

The challenge isn’t simply deciding whether music belongs in the studio. It’s understanding where it might be appropriate and how it fits into the wider acoustic design.

What Research Tells Us About Music and Workplace Productivity

The relationship between background music and productivity is more complicated than assuming that music automatically improves concentration.

A study by Brent A. Scott and colleagues, titled Too Much of a Good Thing? A Multilevel Examination of Listening to Music at Work, published in the Journal of Applied Psychology in 2025, explored how listening to music relates to attention and task performance.

The research combined three studies involving employees and university students, including workplace observations and a controlled experiment measuring performance on proofreading tasks.

The researchers found evidence of an inverted U-shaped relationship between music-listening duration and task performance in some measures. This suggests that an intermediate amount of listening may be associated with better performance than either very little or extensive listening under certain conditions.

However, support for the researchers’ hypotheses was mixed, and individual psychological characteristics also influenced the findings.

An important distinction is that the research examined individual music listening rather than the effects of music played through shared speakers across an office. It also did not specifically investigate architectural practices.

The findings therefore shouldn’t be interpreted as evidence that introducing background music throughout an architecture studio will improve productivity.

Instead, they illustrate why the relationship between music and work deserves careful consideration. Listening duration, individual differences and the demands of particular tasks can all influence whether music is helpful or distracting.

Different Architectural Tasks Call for Different Soundscapes

The variety of work undertaken in an architecture studio makes a flexible approach to background music particularly valuable.

During early-stage design, architects may move between sketching, exploring materials and developing alternative concepts. Some people find that music helps establish a comfortable rhythm for this type of creative work, while others prefer to develop ideas in quieter surroundings.

Technical tasks present different demands.

Producing detailed CAD drawings, coordinating building information models (BIM), reviewing specifications and checking construction information can require sustained attention to complex details.

For someone carrying out this work, music containing prominent vocals or frequent changes in tempo may compete for attention, particularly when the task involves reading and interpreting written information.

Physical model-making involves different activities, such as cutting materials, assembling components or preparing presentation models. Some of these tasks may be compatible with background music, although it must never interfere with safety instructions, communication or awareness of equipment.

Collaborative activities require another approach.

Design reviews, project meetings and discussions around drawings depend on clear speech. Background music that is acceptable during individual work may become distracting when several people need to communicate.

There is also a significant difference between individual and shared music listening.

An architect listening privately can usually choose the music, adjust the volume or stop playback when greater concentration is required. A soundtrack played through speakers affects everyone within hearing distance, including colleagues who may prefer silence.

This makes shared music a workplace design decision rather than simply a matter of personal taste.

The most effective studio environment should therefore accommodate different acoustic needs instead of assuming one soundtrack will suit every architect and every activity.

Why Acoustic Design Still Comes First

Background music should complement a well-designed studio, not compensate for poor acoustics.

Many contemporary architectural workplaces feature exposed concrete, glass partitions, hard flooring and open ceilings. While these materials can create visually striking interiors, reflective surfaces may also contribute to excessive reverberation.

The arrangement of working areas can intensify these challenges.

An open-plan studio might place technical drawing stations close to a shared review table where project discussions take place throughout the day. Nearby, a model-making area may introduce equipment noise, while colleagues participate in video calls at their desks.

Even when each activity is relatively quiet, the combined sound environment can become distracting.

Introducing music without considering these conditions may simply add another layer of noise.

Acoustic panels, sound-absorbing ceilings, appropriately designed partitions and carefully positioned collaborative areas can help improve the situation.

Practices should also consider how sound travels between spaces. Music introduced into a communal area may remain audible at nearby workstations, even when the volume is relatively low.

It’s important to distinguish background music from purpose-designed acoustic masking systems.

Sound masking introduces controlled background sound to reduce the intelligibility of distracting speech. Music may make certain noises less noticeable, but it isn’t a direct replacement for engineered acoustic treatment or masking.

For architects designing their own workplaces, the priority should be establishing suitable acoustic conditions before deciding where music might add value.

Introducing Background Music Without Distracting the Studio

A considered approach to office music begins with identifying where it is appropriate.

Reception areas are a natural starting point. Carefully selected music can contribute to a welcoming atmosphere for clients and visitors without affecting the concentration of employees working elsewhere.

Communal lounges, breakout spaces and informal collaboration areas may also benefit from background music, particularly where conversation and social interaction are already part of their intended use.

In contrast, designated focus rooms, quiet working areas and formal meeting spaces may be better without a shared soundtrack.

Where music is introduced, volume should remain comfortable and appropriate to the activities taking place.

Speaker placement also deserves attention. Sound should be distributed evenly within the intended listening area without becoming excessively prominent around particular workstations or carrying unnecessarily into neighbouring spaces.

For practices wanting greater control over these environments, specialist services providing background music for offices can support curated music selections and scheduled playback throughout the working day.

This allows appropriate soundtracks to be established for different periods without requiring employees to make constant adjustments.

Larger practices may also consider separate audio zones, allowing music to operate independently in reception areas, communal spaces and other suitable locations.

However, separate playback controls do not necessarily prevent sound travelling between adjacent areas. Acoustic separation still needs to be considered alongside the audio system.

Commercial music licensing should also form part of the planning process, with practices confirming the permissions required for their particular workplace and location.

The objective is not to introduce music everywhere, but to make it available where it contributes positively to the studio environment.

Finding the Right Musical Identity for a Creative Practice

Just as architectural practices develop their own approaches to design, their workplaces often reflect distinct personalities and working cultures.

A small residential architecture studio might favour an informal atmosphere, while a larger multidisciplinary practice could require a more structured environment with separate spaces for different teams and activities.

Music can contribute to that identity, but it should be selected with consideration for the people using the space.

Instrumental music may be preferable in shared areas where lyrics could interfere with reading or conversation. Gentle electronic, ambient or acoustic selections might suit certain spaces, while other practices may find that music is best reserved for breaks and informal gatherings.

There’s no single genre that guarantees improved creativity or concentration.

The preferences of employees should therefore influence decisions about shared music. What one architect finds energising may be distracting to someone working nearby.

Practices should also distinguish between music intended to communicate a professional identity and music intended to accompany employees’ work.

A carefully curated soundtrack in a client reception area can help establish a particular atmosphere without implying that the same music belongs in technical drawing areas.

This distinction allows a practice to express its creative character while respecting the different acoustic needs of its employees.

Ultimately, a studio’s musical identity should reflect the way the practice operates, rather than imposing one person’s preferences across the entire workplace.

Designing a Studio That Supports the Way Architects Think

Architecture studios bring together activities that depend on both concentration and communication. Designing a workplace that supports these different demands requires the acoustic environment to be considered alongside the physical layout.

Background music can form part of that environment, but its value depends on how appropriately it is used.

For architectural practices, the most important consideration is providing suitable conditions for the work being undertaken. That may mean a welcoming soundtrack in client-facing spaces, music in informal communal areas and quieter surroundings for detailed technical work.

The same design principles architects apply to their projects should inform these decisions: understanding the users, considering the purpose of each space and recognising that different activities require different environments.

A well-designed workplace isn’t necessarily silent, but it should give people the right acoustic conditions to think, create and collaborate effectively.

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