Some bodies of research in the world of social science, behavioural science and even neuroscience are having a profound impact on workspace designs. The standard Australian office is currently not doing much for employee productivity and wellbeing, but with the new studies, many are altering their environment accordingly.

1. The Perfect Workspace:
What Science Says About
Office Design
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2. Some bodies of research in the world of
social science, behavioural science and
even neuroscience are having a profound
impact on workspace designs. The
standard Australian office is currently not
doing much for employee productivity and
wellbeing, but with the new studies, many
are altering their environment accordingly.
So what would the perfect office space
really look like? Listed below is what
science has to say about creating the best
possible kind of workspace.
Acoustics
A UCSF study in 2006 found that workers
in open offices are more likely to be
distracted by noise than those in
partitioned offices. Noise is also one of the
top distractions in open space plans.
According to Andrew Heumann, one of the
highly reputed names in the world of
architecture, the sweet spot is around 70
decimals, which is enough noise to provide
creative energy, but not too silent that
workers feel ‘trapped.’

3. Space and Distance
Another veteran architect, Susan Carlson, explains that one of the most
important things an office must have is visual variety. Architectural elements
that break the space can be an asset to productivity. This does necessarily
need to be the walls, but she says workers need visual obstructions every now
and then.
In a recent study, researchers found out that cooperation among co-workers is
also correlated to the physical proximity between their offices. People are more
likely to talk to one another if they sit closer to one another.
Ceiling Height
There is a lot of research proving that higher, high quality ceilings actually
promote better performance in the workplace. Lower ceilings, on the other
hand, promote better mathematical thinking. Similarly, higher ceilings
encourage productivity for expansive creative work, while lower ceilings create
an optimal environment for focused and contained tasks.

4. The bodies of research on workspace design only prove that productivity can
be enhanced and supported by a physical environment, and the physical setup
of the space has quantitative beneficial effects.
SOURCES:
http://www.gyprock.com.au/Pages/Products/Ceiling-Panels.aspx
http://senate.ucsf.edu/2013-2014/mb2-
kim%20and%20de%20dear%20article%20on%20communication%20privacy
%20trade%20off.pdf
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0003687082901910