The Science of People and Office Design

The Science of People and Office Design: Planning for Thinking, Discussing and Achieving has been written for practitioners who would like to apply evidence-based and human-centric design principles to office and workplace design. Practitioner-researcher disconnects often arise due to a lack of meaningful connection between their professional worlds. This book seeks to rectify this disconnect and make it clear that research can significantly affect the likelihood that design projects achieve the objectives outlined in their briefs, and that practitioners need to have a real influence on research conducted.

The book consists of 16 chapters,each grouped into three major sections, with an overview chapter and a conclusion drawn together by the editors. Each chapter addresses a real-world workplace design-related issue. The first part of each chapter presents the editors' overview of the problem in practice and the objectives that must be achieved via design solutions. The second portion of each chapter presents peer-reviewed research related to the chapter’s topic, written by a researcher focused on practical issues. The final part of each chapter is written by a workplace design practitioner and details their efforts to resolve the section’s real-world workplace design-related concern by applying relevant peer-reviewed research.

The book is aimed at professionals working in business, interior design, architecture, surveying, facilities management, building services engineering, human resources and psychology who are key stakeholders in the design and delivery of modern office spaces. Postgraduates studying design, architecture, engineering, facilities management, environmental psychology and wellbeing will also find the book useful.

Sally Augustin, PhD, is a practicing environmental psychologist, a principal at Design With Science and a founder of The Space Doctors. Dr Augustin is also a fellow of the American Psychological Association, the editor of Research Design Connections, and a core researcher at the Interdisciplinary Center for Healthy Workplaces at the University of California, Berkeley.

Nigel Oseland, PhD, CPsychol, is an environmental (chartered) psychologist, workplace strategist, change manager, researcher, speaker, and author. Dr Oseland co-founded and hosts the Workplace Trends series of conferences; he presents internationally on workplace psychology and occasionally lectures at UCL and Liverpool John Moores University. He is the author of A Practical Guide to Post-Occupancy Evaluation and Researching Building User Experience and Beyond the Workplace Zoo, published by Routledge.