088 DESIGN SEMINAR


means in relation to the space and how it needs to work, the space planning, and the fabric, fi nishes and acoustics.’


Gensler’s Burry added: ‘In one project we worked on, the existing lobby area was like a huge mausoleum of stone. One employee, who was blind and commuted a long way into work each day, said that the most stressful part of his journey was when he entered the lobby. Everything is a hard surface, with no change in texture. It’s important to be having some of these conversations because they are not always intuitive until you hear someone’s own experiences of such a space.’


Berresford added that some particularly important factors from buildings in the past could include fl ickering lights that some people are aff ected by far more than others, and acoustics in a lobby space when a mass of people are transiting through. When working on a previous project, one of the employees was able to fi lm their experiences of arriving into the offi ce, pointing out the things that negatively aff ected her experience of the space. She said it enabled designers to see and hear the eff ects of the disorientation and disruption that she feels just from arriving into the building’s entrance.


‘What we can do as architects also working on the interiors is to use this kind of journey to address the complexity of masterplanning, drawing on all the things you need to do to make really great cities inside – acoustics,


‘Agile working can off er a choice of


spaces, but on the other hand, people can be uncomfortable when they don’t know where their desk is going to be or where they will be assigned to. There is a need to address this so that, as many organisations look to


encourage


employees back to the of ice, they can ensure that they feel comfortable within the work environment.’


Tajal Rutherford- Bhatt


lighting, fl ow – which in the past were not being addressed.’ Hofton agreed: ‘T e experience is very important. We can all talk about the principles and work out how things will look on the plan, but it’s key to really understand how users will feel when moving through a space, in terms of sounds, smells and sights. For example, how do you make sure the coff ee station or kitchen is suffi ciently far away from a work desk so that someone doesn’t have to put up with smells of food all day? T ese are all the details that are being considered more now than they once were.’


He added: ‘We work for a major tech client and they are acutely aware of the need to provide spaces that work for everyone because they go out of their way to attract and recruit neurodiverse employees because some of the people with the core skills that they need often have these attributes too. Such companies can be very prescriptive about what the workspace needs to look like.’


BDG’s Jackson added: ‘T ere are some important everyday things that developers might think about in masterplanning and building development. T ere has been increased understanding of potential problem areas which have become more visible in the past fi ve years. One is lighting. Long linear lighting can be quite diffi cult to process for some people who are neurodiverse, and


Left to right: Helen Berresford; Tajal


Rutherford-Bhatt, director at TP Bennett; and Thom Hofton


Right left to right: Cressida Toon; Mark Jackson; Matt Jackson, director of BDC Architecture; and Collin Burry


Supported by:


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