CASE STUDY PLP ARCHITECTURE
compared with those who travelled by foot
(5 km) or using their own vehicle.
This illustrates how the commute is o– en
the most stressful part of the day and
more o– en than not we have no transition
between this and beginning our work.
Design can play a huge part in relaxing
people from their commute and getting
them physically and mentally ready for
the workday. Biophilic design throughout
a workplace – plants,
natural materials, light
and ventilation,
and views out
– can help to
normalise
our vitals
before we
even get to
our desks.
There
is more
which can
be done
though. In PLP
Architecture’s 22
Bishopsgate project,
we included an extensive
Active Commuter Park, which
includes everything from showers
and lockers to bicycle maintenance
and hire. Added to this, shared spaces
in the building have a range of curated
artworks and dispersed amenities
available to all building occupants. By
having all of these facilities provided, it
takes a lot of that transitional stress out of
a commuter’s day, helping them to get to
their oƒ ice refreshed, relaxed and ready for
work.
26 AUGUST 2021
CONCLUSIONS
The report concludes that linking self-report
outcomes and wearable measurements
to design (social) value could be vital
to inform commercial decisions. The
research group believe that approaches
like this will increasingly be used as part
of projects, particularly in the postoccupancy
evaluation (POE) stage. What the
methodology with wearables does is to add
another set of metrics to standard POE
practices, the measurement
of the human body. PLP,
and their partners in
this project, have
always been focused
on the eƒ ects
of buildings on
occupants’ health
and wellbeing,
however since
the pandemic
these ideas have
become far more
widely adopted.
Moving forward, there
will be a higher demand for
designers and landlords to provide
proof of the health of their buildings; the
methodology shown in ‘Use of Wearables in
the Oƒ ice’ can be one way to approach this.
The scenarios that were conceived for
the pilot study were adapted as a result of
the lockdown. The home-working scenario
was added because of this prediction that
a large proportion of the workforce would
be working from home for a while longer. As
people return to the oƒ ice, realising what
parts of it were most important, social and
flexible spaces that boost collaboration will
The team at PLP Architecture
become increasingly evident. The scenarios
in the study specifically centred around five
key variables that will also be increasingly
focused on, many of which are translatable
into diƒ erent forms of space. This included
biophilia, views out, interaction, lighting
and ventilation.
People are all diƒ erent in how they work
and in how diƒ erent spaces impact them
and PLP have found this across many of
their recently completed projects. The
workspace-focussed buildings that they
are now designing accommodate this -
including the new headquarters for Yandex
that is under construction in Moscow. What
is great about the wearables study is that
it looks at an individual’s physiological
responses, rather than simply applying
generalised conclusions. This way, anyone
with any level of neurodiversity or working
style could be studied and it would be
seen how, on a personal level, they react
to a space. Had the study not been cut
short by the lockdown, the research group
would have gained a better picture of our
individual study participants and how they
each respond diƒ erently to each space.
Finally, it is important to note that
accessibility is vital when running a project
like this on a wide scale. Many commercially
available tools such as Fitbits are easy
to use for all ages and have features to
improve accessibility for those such as the
visually impaired. When considering which
wearables to use, it is absolutely crucial
to bear in mind the accessibility needs of
your employees or study group. The right
to better health is universal and we need to
develop these methodologies for the future
in a way that is wholly inclusive.
Moving forward, there will be
a higher demand for designers and
landlords to provide proof of the
health of their buildings; the
methodology shown in ‘Use of
Wearables in the 2Ɲ ce’ can be
one way to approach this.”