Office landscape: does it work?

Abstract

A field study of the effects of changes in office environment, from a conventional rectilinear bull pen and cubicle style to a modern office landscaped, was conducted. The attitudes and perception of 120 employees were recorded using a semantic scaling instrument, and an attempt was made to apply this data in a meaningful redesign, before the subjects were moved to the landscaped office interior. The judgements of aesthetic value changed positively on retest, but perceptions of noise level, loss of privacy and visual distractions also were recorded. Some of the problems in utilizing the data are discussed.