Reinventing hybrid office design through a people-centric adaptive approach

Abstract

The indoor environment in office spaces has a significant impact on occupants' health, satisfaction, well-being and productivity. The use of co-working space is rising as a potential alternative workspace post pandemic to respond to the preference for hybrid and flexible working. Hence, it is imperative to understand how the space planning and design of co-working space impacts the occupants. A year-long longitudinal questionnaire survey, along with in-situ field measurement, is conducted in a co-working space in London, to assess the environmental comfort, perception and preference in the space. The relationship between environmental factors like lighting, ventilation, privacy, thermal comfort and access to amenities and occupants' seat preference is explored. The results indicate a general desire for more daylight and air flow suggested by the occupants, while the factors like ‘good daylight’, ‘good ventilation’ and ‘near power sockets’ contribute to occupants' decision-making on seat selection significantly, while privacy and noise are not seen as significant factors in this environment. The findings offer insights for the environmental design for future workspaces in the hybrid working setup.