How Does Office Design Support Employees’ Health? A Case Study on the Relationships among Employees’ Perceptions of the Office Environment, Their Sense of Coherence and Office Design

Abstract

This study investigated the current design circumstances of an office as well as employees’ perceptions of the office environment in relation to their perceived health, drawing on sense of coherence theory (comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness). Previous studies have related the physical office environment to employee health. However, most studies have focused on alleviating negative effects, while health-promoting potential, including employee sense of coherence, has been overlooked. This study adopted a mixed method case study approach, combining semi-structured interviews with employees, structured observations, and analysis of architectural drawings. The results indicated that employees’ perceptions did not always align with the ideas behind the architectural design and that employees understood the environment differently. The study also highlighted the interrelations (and contradictions) among the different components of sense of coherence. The findings imply that organizations may need to prioritize which components of coherence should be supported most by the office environment. It also suggests that case-specific design aspects should play a more central role in studying and conceptualizing healthy office design and that design solutions should be continuously modified during the use phase, while ensuring employees’ participation. The study concluded that an ‘ideal’ office environment should not be the goal. Instead, office design should provide an environment in which employees are able to cope with challenges in comprehensible, manageable and meaningful ways.

Salutogenic environment: the effect of environmental quality of hospital public spaces (EQHPS) on patients’ sense of coherence

“…Thus, improving the quality of hospital public spaces seems to have the potential to foster SOC in health-care environments. These findings confirm other research results and provide empirical support for the importance of design features in users’ SOC, as called for by Forooraghi et al (2021, 2022) and Williams et al (2022). The results of the present study showed that SOC improves when environmental properties increase in public spaces.…”

“…The most significant aspects of comprehensibility in health-care environments are related to the patient’s experiences, such as wayfinding, legibility and clarity. Meaningfulness emphasizes social interactions and communications (Roskams and Haynes, 2019, p. 5; Forooraghi et al , 2021). Table 3 demonstrates the SOC aspects and environmental properties of public spaces related to these components.…”

“Do office workers’ comments corroborate the ratings they give their buildings?” A qualitative analysis of comments on operational factors in the workplace

“…The lack of or limited adequate storage was frequently noted as an issue – supporting the findings of past studies. Forooraghi et al (2021) found that adequate storage space is essential to managing one’s work. Specifically, workers want storage options at their desks and dedicated storage space for large items.…”

“…There were recurring comments on limited leg movement as desks were too small or fixed. Providing high-quality and adjustable furniture is essential to work management (Forooraghi et al , 2021) and beneficial to workers’ health and well-being. For example, past studies have shown the relationship between the type of furniture workers use and musculoskeletal (Karakolis and Callaghan, 2014; Robertson et al , 2013) and stimulating physical activity or reduced sitting time (Carr et al , 2016; Graves et al , 2015).…”