Does the Number of Occupants in an Office Influence Individual Perceptions of Comfort and Productivity?—New Evidence from 5000 Office Workers

Eziaku Rasheed,Maryam Khoshbakht,George Baird

doi:10.3390/buildings9030073

Eziaku Rasheed, Maryam Khoshbakht + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings9030073

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Abstract

Purpose—The purpose of this article is to present evidence of occupants’ perception of their work environment in five different office types (Solo, Duo, 2–4, 5–8 and 8Plus offices). The study examined the influence of the number of office occupants on individual perception of indoor environment quality (IEQ) in office environments. Design/methodology/approach—A dataset of 5000 respondents in 67 commercial and institutional office buildings was analysed using IBM SPSS v23. The dataset contained user response on the BUS Methodology questionnaire that is designed to retrieve occupants’ perception of their work environments. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and multiple regression analysis were conducted to calculate the impact of the office environment on occupants’ perception of comfort and productivity. Findings - This study showed that occupants in Solo and Duo offices perceived higher satisfaction with their environment (except for temperature in summer), better health and productivity; and more control over the office environment than those in 5–8 and 8Plus offices. Occupants in 8Plus offices were most satisfied with the temperature in summer. It was also noted that the IEQ factors that predicted comfort were observed to not predict productivity. Noise was the only IEQ factor that had predictive power for both comfort and productivity in all the office spaces. Originality/value—This article provides intriguing findings on occupants’ perception of various types of office environment that contributes significantly to the debate on open-plan versus cellular office environments.

Highlights

There is ongoing debate on the type of office environment that is comfortable for occupants but supports and enhances productivity [1,2,3]
With the ongoing debate on open-plan versus cellular office spaces, this study provides empirical evidence from 5000 occupants in 67 commercial and institutional buildings across the world
It highlights the effect the type of office environment has on occupants reported satisfaction with the indoor environment and ergonomics, comfort, health and productivity

Summary

Introduction

There is ongoing debate on the type of office environment that is comfortable for occupants but supports and enhances productivity [1,2,3]. While organisations seek to increase collaboration by removing the spatial boundaries between occupants and create open, free flowing spaces, the question remains whether these spaces work. Reflecting the above, the physical environment of offices has evolved over the past decades, with open-plan offices, in contrast to traditional cellular offices, becoming a popular office design for organisations wishing to reduce fixed overheads and increase employee density [13,14]. Some studies reported increased employee satisfaction in open-plan offices regarding the social benefits obtained by working in an environment of mutual support and cooperation. Eliminating walls and creating open-plan offices creates a permeable set of boundaries between individuals and collaborating groups that can enable faster and easier communication [16]

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