Global commercial real estate services and investment firm CBRE (Coldwell Banker Richard Ellis) has more than 140,000 employees in over 100 countries and builds its reputation on designing efficient and effective workplaces. CBRE aspires to bring this same commitment to excellence into the environments it creates for its own people.
At the company’s recently relocated Singapore city-center office, Simon Long, Senior Director of Client Technology at CBRE, envisioned a workplace where wellbeing and focus take precedence, shaping the atmosphere through the integration of Moodsonic’s innovative soundscaping technology.
The project was delivered by wellbeing technology specialist Valeo Technology, working with local installation partner ESCO and Hewshott consultants. The team collaborated with Bluesound Professional to design a tailored audio system based on 120 BCS300 PoE speakers, predominantly in pendant configuration.
The space is intentionally immersive, guiding movement and behavior through sound as much as through architecture and visual design. The office has been deliberately split into distinct sections to support different ways of working, communicating, and interacting, encouraging choice and autonomy rather than simply sitting at a desk all day.
The speakers are deployed across 14 zones, including front- and back-of-house spaces, focus rooms, wellness areas, quiet zones, bathrooms, and café spaces. The system runs on the BluOS multi-zone audio management platform, enabling decentralized control and individual speaker configuration.
Zones can be regrouped in software without accessing ceilings or rerouting cabling, allowing the audio layout to adapt as the workspace evolves. Moodsonic’s generative soundscaping operates as the default audio layer throughout the office and is designed to respond to sensor inputs and environmental data, including occupancy and acoustic conditions.
In addition to audio distribution, the project integrates data from occupancy sensors, air quality monitoring, lighting systems, and acoustic inputs to provide facilities teams with insight into how spaces are being used, supporting ongoing optimization of the workplace environment. If an area is consistently underutilized, is it too bright, too loud, or otherwise uncomfortable? Are focus rooms and meeting spaces being used as intended, or is there a need to reconfigure layouts or provide additional rooms?
While Moodsonic soundscaping operates as the default setting throughout the office, the system also allows for flexibility in use. For example, if teams want to change the music in certain areas on a Friday afternoon, they can temporarily switch to their preferred streaming service via the BluOS app and easily revert to Moodsonic when required.
Marcus Rose, owner and director at Valeo Technology, said: “It sounded amazing from the first moment we turned the speakers on – crystal clear. From the moment employees step out of the lifts, soundscaping is immediately present, setting the tone for the workplace experience.”
