Redesigning Office Spaces for Improved Health and Wellbeing

Redesigned office spaces could reduce stress and improve health benefits for workers, according to new research.

A paper published by University of Arizona researchers aims to become the go-to guide for architects, planners and others in the building industry for designing workspaces that improve emotional well-being and physical health.

Merging the fields of integrative medicine and integrative health, the paper proposes the development of a scientific framework for designing the built environment around health and well-being.

The framework would connect the seven core areas of integrative health: environment, movement, relationships, sleep, spirituality, and nutrition.

Professor of medicine and co-author Esther Sternberg drew on her previous research showing that office space layout can encourage workers to move more, which in turn reduces stress and improves sleep.

According to Sternberg, the concept of designing the built environment for physical health and emotional well-being has been around for decades but has only recently become a focus across all design fields.

“COVID-19 shone a very bright spotlight on designing for mental health because in the wake of the pandemic, there is a pandemic of mental health, of stress, of anxiety around the world. The built environment can play a very important role in reducing stress and enhancing all those elements of integrative health,” she said.

The paper references other studies revealing the sleep-enhancing impact of natural night and the health benefits of quality air circulation, which can improve cognitive functioning and reduce fatigue.

According to founder and director of the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine Dr. Andrew Weil, the built environment strongly influences behaviour, particularly behaviour that determines health.

“The framework we describe for embedding integrative health into the built environment is even more important now, for post-COVID re-entry, to help keep people resilient and enhance mental health and well-being. This is the next frontier of integrative health,” he said.

The paper will be printed in the November issue of the journal Building and Environment.