Lighting quality and environmental satisfaction in open and enclosed offices

Abstract

Using data from a national study of office buildings, this article tests and confirms previous research indicating that lighting is important to the overall quality of the workspace. The importance of lighting is demonstrated , even after taking into account other physical attributes subject to manipulation by designers . The research also demonstrates that , for people working in enclosed private offices, lighting quality is more important to their overall assessment of the workspace than it is for workers in open office systems . At the same time, privacy in open office systems influences assessments to a lesser degree than does lighting quality . These and other findings suggest that the design of future open offices needs to consider the ambient environment as well as privacy issues . Specific design considerations are outlined .