Abstract
ABSTRACT The provision of daylight, fresh air, and of a view outdoors are among the known characteristics of windows. But how does the perception of a window differ when it becomes the primary way of connecting to the physical world outside? In the first half of 2020, many countries resorted to strict lockdown measures to control the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The impact of such confinement, and the restriction to movement and social contact between people, is currently undergoing intense research. As such, this study reports the findings of a global online survey, administered before and after the COVID-19 outbreak, aimed at identifying whether any significant difference related to the lockdown could be observed in the perception of windows. The results confirm a practically relevant increase in the importance given to windows as a way to provide an external view and a visual and social connection with other people. Conversely, the role of the window as a conveyor of information on weather and time of the day was less prevalent. This is one of the first studies evaluating the difference in the perception of windows within a period of enforced lockdown. The findings can help capture the psychological impacts of confinement on people and may be relevant when transferred to other domains where building occupants could strongly benefit from the restorative effects of window views.
Highlights
The sudden outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus across the globe in the first half of 2020 imposed strict confinement and social distancing measures in many countries as a means to limit the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and reduce pressure on public healthcare systems (Wilder-Smith and Freedman 2020)
On the assumption that windows are potential sources of interest and connection with the external world, the aim of this paper is to investigate how perceptions such as familiarity, preference, and satisfaction with a view out of the window, and with its size and location, might differ between a standard reference condition and a period of lockdown due to a sanitary threat such as the SARS-CoV-2 virus
To further investigate the increase in perceived importance of looking out of the window in Survey 2, for its view or to move the gaze away from the task, we looked at the open-ended comments that some respondents added to their answers
Summary
The sudden outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus across the globe in the first half of 2020 imposed strict confinement and social distancing measures in many countries as a means to limit the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and reduce pressure on public healthcare systems (Wilder-Smith and Freedman 2020). Personal space encroachment (Wang, Zhang et al 2020), solitary living for extended periods of time (Mackolil and Mackolil 2020, Odriozola-González, Planchuelo-Gómez et al 2020), working, schooling or exercising from home, etc., may have blurred the conventional notions of space and time, while reduced social contact might have affected people’s feelings and attitudes with respect to the perception of their surroundings In this context, it is well established in the literature that windows provide daylight, ventilation, and a multi-sensory (audio-visual) relationship with the outside (Heschong 2003, Veitch, Christoffersen et al 2013). They convey information about the time of the day and the weather, and proximity to them is often favoured for workspace locations (Boyce, Hunter et al 2003, Asojo, Bae et al 2020)
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