Design for Wellbeing: Investigating impacts of Interior design variables on employee’s wellbeing in the UK workplace

Abstract

Workplace environments have a significant impact on mental health and wellbeing. The field of wellbeing research has gained increasing importance over the past decade, as it contributes to a person's health, reduces stress, and improves performance. A number of factors, including globalization, short-term contracts, outsourcing, and mergers, have adversely affected employee psychological wellbeing levels. Consequently, interior design has gained tremendous importance. Designing environments with a focus on both physical and psychological well-being has become increasingly important for interior designers. In this paper, we investigate the extent to which the physical environmental variables (e.g., layout) affect employees' psychological wellbeing by reporting on the findings of methods which included a systematic literature review, field observation, and an online survey. (25) participants who were chosen upon criteria of inclusion (i.e., UK worker) and exclusion (i.e., working remotely) in an open-plan office layout. Findings show participants responding positively to an open layout; however, this may have negative effects in terms of privacy, control, and noise. Natural materials and elements were found to be a demand by employees as the majority claimed that these affect their wellbeing positively.