Measuring the value of workspace architectural design : construction of the Workspace Communication Suitability Index (WOCSIT)

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to measure the impact of workspace architectural design on the value it generates for tenant organizations in terms of, without loss of generality, strengthening organizational identity and communication - two critical productivity factors. The hypothesis, then, is that there is a measurable correlation between workspace architectural design and organizational identity and communication and, in turn, productivity (ICP). To elucidate this correlation, a set of architectural design variables that can measure ICP in a replicable manner is identified and structured. Observations, interviews and survey instruments are used to construct the "Workspace Communication Suitability Index" (WOCSIT). In constructing the index, a set of diagnostic tools were designed to collect reliable field data while remaining mindful of confounding factors such as facility users' adaptable nature of behavior, culture, irrationality etc. Each index component, an architectural design variable, assumes a suitability rating as a result of subjective assessment of what range of values is acceptable for it to be "suitable" or relevant to ICP. Evaluation schemata, scoring devices derived from the index, can then be used to generate scores for different workspace artifacts and can either evaluate the design of existing composite artifacts - workspaces or guide the creation of new ones. Wider adoption of the index in the professional world can influence all phases of the building design and management process, helping identify areas of possible intervention in the physical environment that improve performance in the design and planning of new and existing buildings.

(cont.) Thus, the predictive accuracy of the index can be the foundation for design guidelines that can be embedded in immediate interventions and, over time, in best practices used by workspace architects from the very early stages in the design process.