Office landscape: does it work?

✍ Scribed by Malcolm J. Brookes

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1972
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 993 KB
• Volume: 3
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0003-6870
• DOI: 10.1016/0003-6870(72)90105-6

✦ Synopsis

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.

The layout, organisation, and design of offices is an important element in USA business, due to the dramatic changes in job styles during the last decade. Today, nearly half of the USA working population spend their time in offices. According to a recent estimate of the Real Estate Board of New York, there are some 250 x 10 eft 2 (23 x 106 m 2) of office space in New York City buildings which alone specialise in offices -this apart from the back office operations of shops, institutions, and factories.