The Rising Interest in Evidence-Based Office Design

With so many changes in the workplace over the past few years, the future of the workplace continues to be a mystery. Many potential futures are consistently being hypothesised: a four-day weekday, office towers exchanged for full remote setups, robot technologies, and much more.

Technology aside, what role will scientific research play in the future of the workplace? Judging by the steadily increasing interest in evidence-based design, a large one.

Architects and interior designers that take on an evidence-based approach leverage empirical knowledge and experience to make educated decisions, whether across the spatial, functional, or aesthetic components of a space.

The research and advocacy organisation Center for Health Design has set the following eight steps as part of the evidence-based process:^[2]

1. Define evidence-based goals and objectives
2. Find sources for relevant evidence
3. Critically interpret relevant evidence
4. Create and innovate evidence-based design concepts
5. Develop a hypothesis
6. Collect baseline performance measures
7. Monitor implementation of design and construction
8. Measure post-occupancy performance results

It’s no surprise that evidence-based design has long been the norm in healthcare design where function has traditionally always been the priority over aesthetics. Interior elements are often selected strategically for the ways that not only can they maintain high hygiene standards and ease of cleanability, but also influence critical physiological and psychological responses such as patient healing and anxiety. For example, natural light in healthcare has been correlated with shorter duration of in-patient stays, accelerated post-operative recovery, more effective pain alleviation, and boosted employee morale.^[3][4]

Other sectors, like workplace and education, are just beginning to catch up in designing spaces that are rooted in empirical research.

Evidence-based design is similar to “research-informed design” in that they both rely on some amount of evidence, but the two terms are not synonymous. According to Jaynelle F. Stichler, co-editor of Health Environments Research & Design Journal, evidence-based design typically relies on multiple forms of evidence to guide decision-making, whereas research-informed design is limited to using published research studies.^[5]

Examples of Evidence-Based Office Design

EBD has been making it to modern office design as more and more companies strive to maximise employee productivity. The following are some examples of evidence-based design in office interior design that have been backed by extensive research findings.

Biophilia

Biophilia is one of the most popular and frequently applied learning in evidence-based office design. Although the premise of an innate human need for a connection with nature was popularised by Edward O. Wilson’s book of the same name, most of the biophilic tenets proposed – such as biomimicry, the presence of wood, and the presence of water – are each supported with separate research initiatives.

Colour Theory

The strategic use of colour to influence psychological functions, including learnings inspired from colour psychology, is perhaps one of the most famous examples of evidence-based design. It has become so embedded in colour theory education that many interior designers might not realise that they’re practising evidence-based design when they rely on such findings. Many colour associations, however, tend to be based on anecdotal or culture-specific evidence, which can render decisions questionable in terms of evidence-based claims.

Acoustics

Sound and noise pollution can harm workplace productivity and researchers continuously bring forth new evidence. One 2014 study^​​ based on answers collected from 237 respondents showed that intelligible conversations are the main source of noise annoyance in an open-plan office.^[6] Designers often mitigate the disruptions with spatial techniques like zoning and acoustic solutions such as stone wool acoustic ceiling tiles and acoustic wall panels.

Meditative Spaces

Many startups are integrating meditation rooms that their employees can freely use, though the association between meditation and productivity, creativity, and stress levels is still in its early days of research. One recent review categorised 51 significant outcomes of mindfulness training under individual, job/work, group/team, and organisational levels.^[7]

Wayfinding

One study argues that the hippocampal involvement of place cells and grid cells has offered a fascinating insight on the way we understand geometric boundaries, spatial memory, and directional movement. ^[9][10]

The Limitations of Evidence-Based Design

The possibilities for evidence-based design are virtually endless and can be applied to a wide range of architectural and design parameters, ranging from spatial configurations, to circulation, lighting, flooring, textures, and more. In fact, most office design trends are associated with some form of empirical evidence, whether directly or indirectly and knowingly or unknowingly.

But evidence-based design is still a young field when it comes to office space planning and workplace design and it’s often used loosely as a buzzword. According to one article, “not only does it lack rigour and quality control in its reviews of studies, it also lacks a concise definition of design variables.^[11] Arguably, few design variables have been established in the fifteen years that have passed since the article was first published.

Moreover, much of the qualitative and quantitative findings that workplace designers often rely on have not necessarily been conducted specifically for workplace settings. Other limitations include an overemphasis on experimental research, a focus that excludes knowledge generated outside the field, and a lack of interest in empirical qualitative studies. ^[12]

To Schuller, the missing piece in the puzzle of workspace design is “a much deeper appreciation of the way in which architecture acts through our sensory modalities and impacts our neurophysiology, which informs psychology, cognition, and experience in space.” 

Industry professionals like Sophie Schuller who are actively working on connecting the often-disparate fields of workplace design and neuroscience are key to shaping the workplace of the future. It remains to be seen what that will look (and feel) like.

Sources:

1. _{Stichler, Jaynelle F., and D. Kirk Hamilton. “Evidence-Based Design: What Is It?” HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal 1 (2): 3–4. https://doi.org/10.1177/193758670800100201.}
2. _{“About EBD | the Center for Health Design.” n.d. healthdesign.org. https://www.healthdesign.org/certification-outreach/edac/about-ebd.}
3. _{"Impact Of Light on Outcomes in Healthcare Settings". 2022. The Center for Health Design. https://www.healthdesign.org/chd/research/impact-light-outcomes-healthcare-settings.}
4. _{Park, Man Young, Choul-Gyun Chai, Hae-Kyung Lee, Hani Moon, and Jai Sung Noh. “The Effects of Natural Daylight on Length of Hospital Stay.” Environmental Health Insights. SAGE Publications, December 3, 2018. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6287302/.}
5. _{Stichler, Jaynelle F. 2016. “Research, Research-Informed Design, Evidence-Based Design.” HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal 10 (1): 7–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/1937586716665031.}
6. _{Pierrette, M., E. Parizet, P. Chevret, and J. Chatillon. “Noise Effect on Comfort in Open-Space Offices: Development of an Assessment Questionnaire.” Ergonomics 58 (1): 96–106. https://doi.org/10.1080/00140139.2014.961972.}
7. _{Hoffmann, Georg, Veronika Gufler, Andrea Griesmacher, Christian Bartenbach, Markus Canazei, Siegmund Staggl, and Wolfgang Schobersberger. 2008. “Effects of Variable Lighting Intensities and Colour Temperatures on Sulphatoxymelatonin and Subjective Mood in an Experimental Office Workplace.” Applied Ergonomics 39 (6): 719–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2007.11.005.}
8. _{Johnson, Karen R., Sunyoung Park, and Sanghamitra Chaudhuri. 2020. “Mindfulness Training in the Workplace: Exploring Its Scope and Outcomes.” European Journal of Training and Development 44 (4/5): 341–54. https://doi.org/10.1108/ejtd-09-2019-0156.}
9. _{Werner, Steffen, and Laura E. Schindler. “The Role of Spatial Reference Frames in Architecture.” Environment and Behavior 36 (4): 461–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916503254829.}
10. _{McIntosh, Andrea Rose, and Nafisa M. Jadavji. 2017. “Application of Neuroscience Principles for Evidence-Based Design in Architectural Education,” September. https://doi.org/10.22186/jyi.33.4.71-76.}
11. _{SAILER, Kerstin, BUDGEN, Andrew, LONSDALE, Nathan, TURNER, Alasdair and PENN, Alan (2009). Evidence-Based Design: Theoretical and Practical Reflections of an Emerging Approach in Office Architecture. In: Undisciplined! Design Research Society Conference 2008, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK, 16-19 July 2008.}
12. _{Rashid, Mahbub. 2013. “The Question of Knowledge in Evidence-Based Design for Healthcare Facilities: Limitations and Suggestions.” HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal 6 (4): 101–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/193758671300600407.}