Recently there has been considerable activity in workplace design, with research and experimentation undertaken by academics, consultants, architects and suppliers of office equipment. All these stakeholders are trying to understand how we can design and build smarter workplaces for the Digital Age. A generic framework for workplace comfort (ie: needs) has been proposed by Dr Jacqueline Vischer at the University of Montreal (The Concept of Workplace Performance and Its Value to Managers, California Management Review, Vol 49, No. 2, Winter 2006). Her framework echoes Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Above the Threshold of Habitability (which establishes minimum requirements for enabling people to work) she defines 3 levels of comfort. 1. Physical Comfort Determined by standards on safety, hygiene, temperature, etc and influenced by the designer. In most modern buildings it is guaranteed and is increasingly aided by buildings automation technology, such as security and climate control. 2. Functional Comfort This concerns the effectiveness of workspaces in […]