Beyond the coffee corner: Workplace design and social well-being

Positive social interactions and feeling connected with people around us are fundamental human needs and crucial to our well-being. This dissertation explores how interior office design could foster workers’ social well-being. The research indicates that to enhance social interactions and a sense of belonging, factors like atmosphere, diversity,...

The architecture of the open office in the twentieth-century: Exploring the spatial configurations of the open floor plan in offices As example the Johnson Wax Headquarters and Centraal Beheer Office

In this thesis the modern office typology will be the main object of this research. Giving an answer to the question: how did the open floor plan in offices emerge in the twentieth century? The buildings Johnson Wax Headquarters (1939) by Frank Lloyd Wright and Centraal Beheer Apeldoorn (1972) by Herman Hertzberger will be analysed to illustrate...

Workplace affordances of social well-being: a conceptual framework

The prolonged working from home during the recent pandemic has increased awareness of the social function of the office: employees missed informal social interaction with co-workers, face-to-face meetings, and spontaneous encounters. If the trend of hybrid working persists, one of the main functions of the physical office will be to support face...

Expected user needs towards the post-Covid office: better support of social interactions and concentration

Background and aim – While remote working is not a new phenomenon, Covid-19 has forced many office workers to work from home for long consecutive periods. Recent research shows that while most of them say they can work productively from home, many feel less connected to their colleagues. This study explores how these experiences may influence...

Towards an interdisciplinary employee-workplace alignment theory

Many theories from different research disciplines apply to workplace design and management. This chapter describes a first attempt to integrate 21 of those theories into an overall employee-workplace alignment (EWA) framework, as a starting point towards developing a grand EWA theory. Through concept mapping, the tacit knowledge underlying...

The relationship between interior office space and employee health and well-being: a literature review

Health is a trending topic in the office market, yet scientific research on healthy offices is scattered. This study undertakes a systematic literature review on the relationship between the interior space of offices and physical, psychological and social well-being. The review identifies the characteristics of interior office space that have...

PACT: Calculating nWoW accomodation that suits the organisations' work processes

Workplace change and New Ways of Working (NWoW) seem to have become a fixed value in FM practice in the Netherlands today. Stimulated by new technological possibilities and maybe even by the world-wide crisis, companies are rethinking their office environments. The possibility to work anytime and anywhere seems key. However this requires a...