The multi-dimensional perceptions of office staff and non-office staff about metro noise in commercial spaces

Indoor acoustic environment has become a critical factor in architectural design, and some researchers argued that the reactions from people of varied age, gender, etc. to indoor noise should be considered. While the office staff along metro lines get used to frequent metro noise, their metro noise perceptions, which are supposed to be different from non-office staff, need to be clearly examined. Based on on-site physical measurements and questionnaire surveys, this study aims to analyze the multi-dimensional perceptions (annoyance, dissatisfaction and unpleasantness) of office staff and non-office staff about metro noise in the underground commercial spaces of a high-rise building. The results indicate that due to lower adaptability and tolerance to metro noise, the non-office staff were more sensitive to the change of metro noise than the office staff, and compared with the office staff, the non-office staff expressed obviously more intense multi-dimensional negative moods under the same metro noise environments. Furthermore, for the non-office staff, their annoyance and dissatisfaction ratings due to metro noise correlated well with A-weighted equivalent sound pressure level (LAeq) and maximum A sound pressure level (LAFmax). Among the psychoacoustic measures, loudness and sharpness mainly influenced their annoyance and dissatisfaction perceptions.