Some Powerful Ways Workspace Interior Design Can Actually Maximize Creativity
With nearly 60% of US employees working remotely since the beginning of the quarantine orders in March, and tech advancements like Zoom expected to further increase that number, it seems like a perfect time to share some facts about the powerful impacts of office/workplace design. We hope this post will offer you opportunities to improve or create your own workspace and set you up for success as a remote employee.
First, let's lay some groundwork and address a common misconception that the design process revolves largely around specific style preferences of the designer, and/or their client. While this is certainly a consideration, the meat of the design focuses around the environment and its impact on the humans functioning inside of it. In other words, successful designs are often based on scientific research around environmental psychology. Environmental Psychology is an interdisciplinary field that focuses on the interplay between individuals and their surroundings.
In 1984, RS Ulrich published the findings from his “View Through a Window” experiment where comparable hospital patients were assigned to identical rooms, except for what they saw outside of their windows. Half of the patients had window views of a brick wall of the building next to it while the other half had views of the tree tops and sky. Those that had the natural views (tree tops and sky) required less pain medication and experienced a quicker recovery than those with a view of the brick wall.
These results indicate that natural views have positive therapeutic influences on hospital patients. This was the beginning of what would soon be referred to as EBD, Evidence Based Design, and would have an increasing influence in architecture and design fields, particularly healthcare facilities and office/workplaces.
Over the past decade there has been extensive research in workplace design.
High-quality workplace design improves overall employee health and satisfaction. Physical surroundings impact our comfort, mood, and focus. Workplace design also affects our personal effectiveness. The proper design increases happiness and reduces sick days. It also boosts productivity, increases focus and enhances employees’ sense of feeling valued. Further, employees make better life and health choices based on the quality of their workspace.
Evidence-based design provides employees with improved satisfaction and heightened well-being. It reduces stress, provides easier wayfinding and increases safety. For employers, this research-based design improves occupancy and financial performance. It also increases employee efficiency and retention and reduces absenteeism. Industry experts predict that design based on data will be the workplace design trend of the future. -Viewsonic
DEFINING CREATIVITY
Let’s briefly talk about what defines creativity. JP Guilford, one of the founders of the Psychology of Creativity, described creativity as: as divergent thinking and ability to generate multiple ideas, creation of new patterns, a transformation of knowledge and meaning or use the functions of objects in a new way.
So, creativity is formed by using both sides of the brain, the left, convergent/analytical side and the right, divergent/creative side. See architect Donald Rattner’s illustrations of this below:
So if creativity requires both sides of our brain why does design seem more focused on the divergent or creative side of the brain? The reason is simple. We use the convergent brain 99.9% of the time- the analytical mind is all too alive and well for most of us in our current society. It is the “monkey mind” as some meditation teachers refer to it. Typically the convergent wheels don’t need any help turning but making space for the divergent thought process to start rolling is far more difficult, and is why so much of workplace design focuses on strategies to enhance this side of our brain!
USING EVIDENCE BASED DESIGN PRINCIPLES
With a baseline understanding of environmental design and creativity, now we are ready for the fun stuff! Outlined below are 3 important evidence based design (EBD) principles related to fostering a creative and productive workspace. For each one, we will break down the What and the Why, and offer some ideas how to implement them into your own space!
SPACE
PRINCIPLE: Our mental space is proportional to our perception of physical space.
The more expansive we feel our surrounding space to be, the more likely we are to generate original and useful ideas. If our surrounding space feels more confined we will have a more analytical mindset.
WHY:
According to Construal-Level Theory, or CLT, the observation or perception of things far away from us stimulates abstract thinking, while nearby objects or concepts stimulate a concrete and detail-oriented mindset. Look at the two images below:
From an airplane, the truck looks like a tiny speck, the road and fields appear as broad and abstract shapes.
From the side of the road, however, the mind is focused on the concrete objects and details that are clearly discernible.
***It is important to note that this concept applies to distance in all metrics- spatial distance is one example, time is another. As explained by Donald Rattner:
As with spatial distancing, lived experience parallels psychological effect; we recall events, people, and information originating in our near past with far greater sharpness of vision and granular detail than those from long ago.
Facing a window view will help expand the sense of physical and mental space.
IMPLEMENTATION:
1.VIEW
Orient your desk to face windows/ doors or the center of the room.
Ceiling height: while most of us don’t have the option of changing our ceilings, optical tricks with vertical lines will make the space feel and appear bigger and give a similar effect as high ceilings. For example, vertical striped wallpaper ,floor length window drapes, upright bookcases or paneling will help draw the eye up and down.
3. ARTWORK/ DECOR
Integrate artwork/decor that suggests open space or other distant places. Consider using images of landscapes, cities, travel posters to exotic locations, cultural artifacts from distant countries, or collectables from trips you’ve taken.
BIOPHILIC DESIGN
PRINCIPLE: Biophilia (meaning, love of nature) focuses on our innate attraction to nature and natural processes. Biophilic design incorporates nature into the built environment to create restorative and connective spaces. Even simple changes to include nature into our spaces can have a huge impact on how we feel, live, learn, and heal.
WHY:
It suggests that we all have a genetic connection to nature because of the thousands of years humans spent living in agrarian environments. Humans were originally designed to be a part of nature- only in the last century have we become increasingly separated from the natural environment.
Incorporating direct or indirect elements of nature into the built environment has been demonstrated to reduce stress, blood pressure and heart rate. In addition the benefits of biophilic design show productivity can be increased by 8%, rates of well-being up by 13%, increases in creativity up to 15%,
IMPLEMENTATION:
Add plants into the workspace
Integrate scenes of nature through window views or artwork/decor
Incorporate earth toned color palettes (think browns and greens)
Adding plants in the workspace is an easy way to incorporate biophilic design elements.
DESIGNATED WORK AREA
PRINCIPLE: Set up a workspace and try to dedicate that space for work alone.
WHY: Having a space solely dedicated to your work will help with focus and organizations.
According the Classical Conditioning- the brain forms associations between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus. So by working in a specific place consistently, after time, your mind will automatically be in a creative framework by just stepping into the space.
IMPLEMENTATION:
Set up a designated workspace and commit to working in that space - if at all possible have that space be solely used for your work.
If you must share your workspace with other people or activities try to ensure your workspace can be set up in the same way all the time.
Closet Office Nook
Photo Credit: Closetphile, Lisa Adams
There is SO much more to talk about on this subject! For now, we hope this blog post has informed you and helped guide you in making design decisions by sharing the What and the Why of design principles as well as provide some ideas of how you can foster more creativity into your own home office or workspace.
Convinced you don’t have room for a designated workspace? Have a home office but need some specific recommendations to make it a creative haven? No matter where you are at, we can help!
For a limited time we are offering a special 90 minute Workspace Consultation!
Click here to schedule now!
