IMPACT OF OFFICE

WORKPLACE
ENVIRONMENT ON USERS
ARCHITECTURAL
PROJECT

NISHA MATHRANI

FOURTH YEAR GEN

INTRODUCTION
The amount of time that people spend in
the workplace has provoked interest in the
relationship between the environment and
users. Duffy (1992), who has conducted a
significant amount of research into the
impact of the workplace environment with
international business consultants DEGW,
argues that you cannot get good work out
of a bad office.
The changing nature of workplace
environments also indicates that those
responsible for determining the design
believe there to be a link between the
workplace environment and users.
To fully understand the impact of the
workplace environment, a conclusive and
comprehensive evidence base is necessary
to inform design. The evidence base will
allow decisions to be made based upon
knowledge about the impact of the
environment.

SIGNIFICANCE OF
STUDY
Currently there is insufficient conclusive
evidence readily available to demonstrate good
practice in terms of office workplace design. To
inform and develop a stronger evidence base,
further research and into the impact of the
workplace environment is necessary. As architects
do not always get the opportunity to occupy and
use the buildings they design, the assumptions
they make about the performance of buildings
may be inaccurate. They do not test these
assumptions against the findings of research and
evidence. The difference in ratings or perceptions
of a building between architects and lay people
has been reported by a number of researchers (for
example Hershberger, 1969; Hubbard, 1996;
Wilson, 1996). The findings of their work
demonstrated that architects and lay people rate
the built environment using different criteria
therefore they demonstrate preferences for
different buildings or aspects of buildings. Thus, to
provide architects and space planners with
adequate understanding of the impact of the
environment, systematic evaluations are required.

AIM
To demonstrate that a well designed
office workspace environment can
have a positive impact on employee
health and comfort.

OBJECTIVES

To develop an approach that allows

holistic evaluations of the workplace
environment to be conducted. Both
objective measures and user
perceptions will be measured in
relation to a wide range of aspects of
the workplace.
To use the approach to conduct an
evaluation of the workplace
environment in 3 different types of
office workplaces to identify patterns
and trends/differences relating to the

RESEARCH
QUESTIONS
Do different kinds of workplaces
have a different impact on people?
What are the stresses that people
deal with in these offices?
Are the stresses different from each
other in different workplaces?
What are the qualitative aspects of
a workplace?
Is there a correlation between
employee comfort and productivity
and qualitative aspects of the office
environment?
Does incorporation of nature in
offices affect employee comfort and
productivity?

SCOPE & LIMITATION

Research will focus on correlation
between qualitative aspects of
workplace and productivity and
health of employee.
Different people may experience the
same space differently however it
may not be possible to study the
different cultural backgrounds of the
people.
There are too many possible design
variations and combinations to be
tested experimentally.
Workplace environment is complex
and it may not be possible to study
all aspects of the environment.

METHODOLOGY
Consult a psychologist and form a
relevant questionnaire.
Identify three types of office
workplaces. (eg. Architectural office,
IT office, call centre)
Conduct interviews, surveys at these
workplaces.
Observe participants in their
workplace environments.
Study the qualitative aspects of the
environment.
Compare and analyze the data.

EXPECTED
The output of the study will help
architectsOUTCOMES
and space planners to design
office workplaces that will have a
positive impact on user comfort and
productivity.

REFERENCES
Thomas, Jenny (2011) An Holistic
Evaluation of the Workplace.
Understanding the Impact of the
Workplace Environment on
Satisfaction, Perceived
Productivity and Stimulation.
Doctoral thesis, Northumbria
University.

Cooper , Rachel; Boyko,

Cristopher; Codinhoto, Ricardo.
The effect of physical
environment on mental
wellbeing. Mental Capital and
Wellbeing.