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Enlivening Our Workspaces: Switching to Active Work Culture Nudged by Space

Part 1 Dissertation 2021
Venusri Harigopal
 Heriot Watt University - Dubai Campus | UAE
Sitting is ubiquitous in our work culture. A Fellowes Survey by Bean found 8/10 office workers spending “4-9 hours a day sitting at their desks - 67 sedentary days annually”, or 18% of their lives stuck to a seat. (Bean, 2020) Prolonged sitting hours; predominant in workplaces especially IT-based desk jobs; are identified by the WHO as the leading causes of fatality due to cardiovascular problems, diabetes, mental disorders, and disability. (WHO, 2002).

Supported by relevant studies on employee wellness, this paper identifies spatial attributes in workplaces that steer patterns of sedentary behaviour, reiterates its’ negative impacts, and the increasing need to shift to healthier workstyles that ameliorate daily physical activity.

Space has the potential to encourage positive human behaviour by providing cues. The impact of workstyles, activity adjacencies, and layouts on movement patterns are explored through an office floorplan. Employee preferences and feasibility of suggested design tactics are assessed using an employee survey from similar desk-based settings. The paper also explores a comparative approach to adapting spatial design tactics from other typologies, to then conclude by recommending modifications in spatial design and flexible styles of working to enable workplaces to meet minimum physical activity requirements of accepted Health Guidelines.
Venusri Harigopal
Tutor(s)
Shameel Muhammed
2021
Enlivening our Workspaces, steering to workplace wellness; Courtesy: drawing by author.
Proposed office layout to drive an active work culture, Courtesy: plan drawing by author.
Existing office layout, Courtesy: image by author modified from source: Rohan Dayal Photography, IBM Office, 2020.
Spatial interventions illustrated on the office plan, Courtesy: drawing by author.
Office floor plan highlighting the various zones of activity, Courtesy: diagram by author.
Drawing principles from other typologies of space, Courtesy: diagram and sketches by author.
Learning from public spaces: spatial cues that drive movement and interaction, Courtesy: drawings by author.
Proposed pathway interventions on the office layout, Courtesy: drawings by author.
Movement patterns derived from proposed floor plan highlighting frequency of path used, Courtesy: drawing by author.
A comparison of projected movement patterns between the traditional and proposed layout, Courtesy: drawings by author.
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