Your Studio KOHLER Workspace
Your Studio KOHLER Workspace
Current conversations around inclusivity necessarily extend to inclusive workplace design as we return to the office after spending much of the last two years working from home. Our Design Studio Manager Erin Lilly recently interviewed Komal Kotwal for our new podcast series Studio KOHLER Presents: By Design, talking to the Sustainable Design Leader for Health, Wellbeing, and Equity at global firm HOK about inclusive workplaces.
As HOK advocates, inclusive workplace design provides a variety of private and shared spaces to support all employees’ productivity and wellbeing, including the neurodiverse workforce and others who may have different needs. According to the firm’s strategy, by creating “me spaces” and “we spaces,” and carefully considering the levels of sensory stimulation, inclusive office design provides diverse, comfortable, and adaptable workspaces for everyone.
While most people operate within a range considered neurotypical, approximately 15 to 20 percent are neurodivergent, which includes people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, and other conditions. Neurodiverse employees bring unique talents and different ways of thinking that are of great value to organizations, yet they don’t always feel comfortable within traditional workplace settings. Often more sensitive to sensorial stimuli in their environment, they tend to be understimulated (hyposensitive) or overstimulated (hypersensitive) by noise, lighting, texture, pattern, color, odor, air quality, temperature, and sense of security, among other things.
Kotwal works with the HOK team and clients to plan and design inclusive, sustainable, equitable environments that support and nurture “human sustainability,” as Kotwal describes. This term expands the conversation around productivity, flexibility, and wellbeing in the workplace to be more inclusive and to consider everyone’s productivity and wellbeing — neurotypical and neurodiverse alike. Indeed, designing a neuro-inclusive workplace requires a nuanced approach so that everyone can thrive. “The variety of spaces is the No. 1 thing to consider, so there are options for everyone,” says Kotwal. “We’re looking for an ecosystem of spaces that accommodates diverse people and is designed for a spectrum of senses.”
One way to think about this variety of spaces is in terms of “we space” and “me space” — we spaces being shared space for collaboration, interaction, and connecting, and me spaces being private areas for quiet, concentration, and retreat.
Research by HOK takes this concept further by identifying six types of spaces in the workplace and how they can be designed for hypersensitive and hyposensitive users. The private spaces, or me spaces, include space for individual, focused work; “creating space” for creative thinking and brainstorming; and “contemplating space” to help people refresh and be mindful. The shared spaces, or we spaces, provide “communal space” for people doing everyday tasks, “congregating space” where people meet and collaborate, and “socializing space” for making social connections.
The experiential aspects of each space are then finely tuned through the selection of materials, textures, colors, and levels of lighting, acoustics, temperature, and stimulation, so that hypersensitive and hyposensitive individuals can work in an environment that best suits their needs and the task at hand. “Space impacts people differently, and spaces for concentration can look very different for someone who’s hypersensitive versus someone who’s hyposensitive,” Kotwal explains. “One person might feel secure and relaxed in an enclosed office, whereas another person might feel isolated. Someone hypersensitive may want an organized space to be creative in, whereas hyposensitive people might want to let loose and embrace the chaos.”
By providing a range of diverse and adaptable environments, organizations can help their people feel empowered to manage their own needs and to choose the workspace they find most comfortable. For example, the HOK-designed Nasdaq office in Philadelphia has open-plan spaces that fuel creativity and interaction, and a variety of seating types and configurations to support a range of work styles with flexibility for different uses. Meeting rooms promote teamwork, while enclosed booths accommodate private conversations and offer spaces where people can withdraw and find refuge. An internal stairway is a prominent active design element that connects all three floors and encourages movement and spontaneous encounters.
Inclusive design also applies to workplace bathrooms, where light, noise, and other stimuli can be agitating to neurodiverse people. Inclusivity is a core tenet at Kohler Co., and our team works together to ensure products are designed with consideration for diversity and inclusion. “Our New Product Development teams are very invested in managing sound, smell, and even touch and temperature of our hygiene and sanitary products, because we service rooms where people are at their most vulnerable,” says Lilly. “Everyone is invested in making products that make all users feel confident and at ease.”
Designing an inclusive workplace is in the best interests of everyone — neurodiverse and neurotypical. Inclusive design supports and promotes a greater level of wellbeing for all employees, gives an organization an advantage in attracting, retaining, and working with a more diverse workforce, and helps to bring out the best in everybody.
Listen to Erin Lilly in conversation with Komal Kotwal of HOK in our new podcast Studio KOHLER Presents: By Design.
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