A day of silence in an open-plan office

On a Wednesday in March, a design agency in Leeds banned speaking in the office until lunch. Messages were allowed, calls were taken in the stairwell. The goal was to measure what noise costs.

Typing speed did not change. Output on written tasks rose by about a fifth. But by eleven o'clock, two people had left their desks for a walk and returned visibly calmer. No one missed the chatter.

What people actually missed

They missed overhearing. A junior designer said the best thing about the office was hearing how the seniors handled a tricky client call. That sound, usually dismissed as distraction, was also tuition.

The agency now keeps a silent morning on Wednesdays and a loud afternoon on Thursdays. Everyone knows which hours are for what.