Desk screens
Low, between or on the desks: cut the face-to-face and the direct voice.
Office acoustics →Product · Partitions & screens
Acoustic partitions & screens.
In an open-plan office, separating means calming. Screens between desks and freestanding partitions absorb the voices and create the privacy that is missing, without truly separating the premises. ACOUSTELIO makes them to measure in PET felt, movable, printable and fire-certified for public buildings.
The principle
Absorb and separate, at once.
An acoustic partition plays on two fronts: its PET felt absorbs part of the voices, and its vertical surface interrupts the direct propagation of sound between two people. You gain quiet and a bit of privacy, without building a wall. It is exactly what an open-plan office needs, where the noise comes from neighbouring conversations, not from an adjoining room.
The first function is acoustic treatment: the felt turns the sound energy that hits it into a tiny amount of heat, instead of sending it back into the room. The second is geometry: an obstacle placed between two heads breaks the straight line the voice follows, the one that carries most of the intelligibility. Together, these two actions bring the nuisance down far faster than a single panel set on the back wall.
Not to be confused with soundproofing between two premises: here, you calm a shared space. See acoustic treatment vs soundproofing.
Technical honesty
What a partition does, and does not do.
Let's be clear: an acoustic partition does not create total soundproofing like a masonry wall. It clearly reduces the nuisance between neighbours and brings privacy, but does not remove everything. A loud voice stays perceptible beyond it, attenuated. To fully soundproof two rooms, you need building work; to calm an open floor plate, the partition is the right answer, fast and reversible.
What it does well: lower the background din, cut the face-to-face, make nearby conversations less intelligible, and therefore less distracting. What it does not do: block a sound that goes around over the top or passes under the plate, or turn an open-plan office into closed offices. Knowing this limit avoids disappointment and lets you size it right, without over-promising.
PET felt with a recycled share, NRC 0,85 absorption, fire-certified B-s1,d0. Evidence in the guarantees.
Where it helps
Which spaces, concretely?
The partition doesn't have a single use. Here are the five setups where it changes daily life.
Open-plan office
Separate rows of desks and break the overall din. A low screen on each bench and a few tall partitions are enough to bring the sound tension down.
Coworking
Members who come and go, needs that change every week. Partitions on castors define zones on demand, without freezing the premises.
Open meeting room
Create a discussion corner in the floor plate without building real walls. The tall partition contains the voice and visually signals the meeting space.
Call & video zone
Isolate the people on the phone or in a video conference, so they don't disturb their neighbours and are better heard on screen.
Reception & waiting
Structure a hall, frame a waiting area, filter the view towards the workstations. The printed partition also becomes an image medium from the entrance.
Focus bubble
Surround two or three desks with tall partitions to create a quiet island, dedicated to tasks that demand focus, without building a closed office.
Screen or partition?
Low and tall don't do the same job.
The desk screen and the freestanding partition answer two distinct needs. The table sorts them out.
Desk screen (low)
Freestanding partition (tall)
Cuts the direct voice between seated neighbours
Blocks the standing line of sight
Preserves the light and the sense of space
Defines a whole zone
Typical height
40 to 65 cm
1,20 to 1,80 m
Fixing
On or between the desks
Feet or castors
Privacy
A bit of privacy in the open floor plate.
The open-plan office has a known downside: everyone hears everyone. A client call, an HR one-to-one, a thought spoken aloud become public despite yourself. It is not just a matter of noise, it is a matter of privacy. A well-placed divider restores a boundary: the voice carries less far, the eye stops, and everyone regains a margin of discretion without leaving the floor plate.
The partition does not make a conversation inaudible, but it reduces its intelligibility for the neighbouring desks. And it is precisely intelligibility that disturbs: a voice you understand grabs attention far more than an indistinct murmur. By lowering this threshold, the screen or the partition protects both the person speaking and those trying to concentrate around them.
To go further on the comfort of a whole floor plate, see our office acoustics solution.
The formats
From the simple screen to the mood partition.
We choose the right format according to what you want to separate.
Freestanding partitions
Tall and self-supporting: define a meeting, call or waiting corner.
See made-to-measure →
Flexibility
Movable, modular, on castors.
The great asset of an ACOUSTELIO partition holds in one word: it moves. In PET felt, it stays light, and mounted on feet or castors, it moves without dismantling anything. A team reorganisation, a meeting corner to create for the afternoon, an event to frame: the setup changes in a few minutes, without waiting for a project or tying up the floor plate.
This flexibility carries a real economic weight. A fixed fit-out commits building work, lead times and a budget you don't get back if the organisation changes. The movable partition, by contrast, follows the company: you add it when you grow, move it when you reorganise, store it when a space frees up. For a growing office or a coworking space, it is the opposite of the frozen investment.
The right reflex. If your floor plate changes often, favour partitions on castors with a brake over the screw-fixed models. You keep the freedom to reconfigure without tools, and the brake stops the drift once the zone is in place. We spot with you the partitions that must stay mobile and those that can be fixed.
The ACOUSTELIO difference
Flexible, printed, and well finished.
A partition is seen: it may as well serve your image too. Ours print, come in a range of heights and colours, and move effortlessly. You get quiet, privacy and a fit-out element consistent with your space, not a generic screen.
Customisation doesn't stop at the logo. Height, width, edge shape, felt shade, print on one side or both: each parameter is set to your need. A partition can code a zone by its colour, guide a visitor, or simply disappear into a sober shade. High-definition printing costs nothing in absorption, the felt keeps its NRC 0,85.
Often combined with ceiling baffles in large floor plates.
Compliance
Receiving the public: the fire certification counts.
As soon as a space receives the public, a public-access building in the regulatory sense, the fit-out materials must meet fire-reaction requirements. A partition set in the middle of a floor plate or in a reception hall is no exception. Our partitions and screens are classified EN 13501-1 B-s1,d0: low contribution to fire, very low smoke emission, no flaming droplets.
The classification report comes with every order, ready to add to a safety file or present to an inspection body. We check this point before starting manufacturing, to avoid the fine project rejected by the commission. Compliance is part of the quote, it is not a box to tick at the end of the process.
The detail of the classification and its suffixes is explained on the EN 13501 fire classification side.
85%
of the incident noise absorbed (NRC 0,85)
1,20-1,80m
typical height of a freestanding partition
B-s1,d0
fire classification compliant for public buildings
10-15d
DDP delivery across Europe
How it works
From the open-plan office to the calmed floor plate, in 4 steps.
01
Floor plate analysis
Desk layout, nuisance zones, privacy needs.
02
Configuration & proof
Formats, heights, approved visual, quote within 48 h.
03
Manufacturing
Made-to-measure partitions and screens, fire-certified.
04
Delivery & install
Delivered DDP, simple assembly with no building work, within 10 to 15 days.
A calmer open-plan office, and modular.
Describe your floor plate to us, configuration and quote within 48 h.
Request my free quoteFrequently asked questions
Partitions & screens: your questions.
What is an acoustic partition or screen?
It is a vertical absorbent panel that separates two zones and captures sound as it passes. There is the desk screen, set on or between the desks, and the partition, taller, freestanding or suspended, which structures the space. Both play a double role: absorbing voices thanks to PET felt and creating a partial visual and acoustic barrier between people. It is the typical answer to open-plan offices, where you want both quiet and a bit of privacy.
Desk screen or freestanding partition: what is the difference?
The desk screen is low, often 40 to 65 cm above the surface: it fixes to the desk or between two facing workstations, to cut the direct sound line and the face-to-face without fully separating. The freestanding or suspended partition rises from 1,20 to 1,80 m and stays self-supporting: it defines a zone, a meeting corner, a waiting area. You choose by need: reduce the nuisance between immediate neighbours with the screen, or create a real change of ambience with the partition. Both stay movable.
Does a partition really soundproof from noise?
Let's be clear: an acoustic partition does not create total soundproofing like a masonry wall. It acts in two ways: it absorbs part of the voices thanks to the felt, up to 85 % of the incident noise, and it interrupts the direct propagation of sound between two people. The result is a clear drop in nuisance and a gain in privacy, without truly separating the premises. For complete soundproofing between two rooms, you need building work; to calm an open-plan office, the partition is the right answer.
Are the partitions movable and modular?
Yes, it is one of their great strengths. On feet or on castors, they move and reconfigure to suit your needs: team reorganisation, creation of a temporary meeting corner, company event. Light in PET felt, they install with no building work and cost far less than a fixed fit-out. Some teams move one on their own in a few minutes. It is a flexible solution, ideal for spaces that evolve, coworking or growing offices.
Can you customise them?
Entirely. Height, width, shape, colours and printing are made-to-measure. A partition can display your brand, a pattern, a mood visual, or stay sober and plain. It is also an internal communication medium: signage, colour zoning, team wayfinding. You approve a proof before production, so no surprise on the final look. The divider becomes a fit-out element in its own right, not just a technical device set in the middle of the floor plate.
Low screen or tall partition: which to choose?
It all depends on what you want to cut. The low screen treats the direct voice between two seated neighbours and restores a bearable face-to-face, without breaking the light or the sense of space. The tall partition goes further: it blocks the standing line of sight, absorbs more sound surface and creates a real bubble for a call corner or a focus zone. Many floor plates mix the two: low screens on the rows of desks, tall partitions around the sensitive zones. We decide with you according to the plan.
Which spaces are they suited to?
Mostly open-plan offices and shared spaces: separating rows of desks, isolating a call or video-conference corner, creating a focus bubble, defining an open meeting room or a waiting area. They also suit coworking and reception halls. As soon as a space receives the public, their B-s1,d0 fire certification lets you use them in full compliance. We steer you towards the right format according to the use and the density of your floor plate.
What lead time and budget to equip a floor plate?
Allow 48 h for the quote after we receive your plan, then 10 to 15 working days once the proof is approved, manufacturing and delivery included. A made-to-measure desk screen starts around 59 € depending on the format and the printing; a freestanding partition costs more, according to its height and surface. Delivery is DDP across Europe, duties and taxes included. Assembly is simple and free of building work, often done by your own teams in half a day.
A partition doesn't build a wall. It absorbs the voice and cuts the sound line, just enough to make the open-plan office livable, without closing it in.
The principle we apply to every floor plate, from the bench row to the call zone.
A calmer open-plan office, with no building work.
Describe your floor plate to us, and we come back with a configuration and a quote within 48 h.
Request my free quote