Evaluating the relationship between visual privacy and work-process interactions in open-plan offices: a space syntax approach
Abstract
Purpose
Previous studies on privacy in offices have primarily focused on the characteristics of generic visibility, examining the entire visible space from each workspace in 360 degrees. Nevertheless, employees in their workspaces investigate the visual targets within their binocular vision at 120 degrees. Therefore, by adopting the affordances perspective, this study aims to examine deeply generic and targeted visibility in open-plan offices and their relationship to interactions.
Design/methodology/approach
The study consisted of two phases utilizing space syntax techniques. Initially, work-process interactions of the employees were determined through the survey. The survey data underwent spatial analysis to calculate the number of work-process interactions. Subsequently, DepthMapX software was used for visibility analyses. A new Python script for DepthMapX was developed to analyse the targeted visibility ratio. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between the number of work-process interactions with generic and targeted visibility parameters.
Findings
The findings revealed that a higher number of visible employees within the 120-degree and 360-degree fields of vision corresponded to a lower number of work-process interactions in open-plan offices. Furthermore, the study establishes a direct link between visual privacy and interaction, indicating that increased visibility leads to decreased visual privacy.
Originality/value
The current research concluded that the relationship between visual privacy and interaction in open-plan offices differs from the previous studies, as employees with low visual privacy and high visibility tend to engage in fewer interactions. Overall, this study highlights that increased employee visibility is not directly associated with increased interaction in open-plan offices unless adequate visual privacy is provided.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This study was conducted as a part of the Ph.D. thesis of the first author at I.D. Bilkent University, in the Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design. The authors would like to thank Assoc. Prof. Dr İpek Memikoğlu and Asst. Prof. Dr Çağrı İmamoğlu for their valuable contributions at all stages of this study.
Citation
Yenel Güler, G. and Demirkan, H. (2024), "Evaluating the relationship between visual privacy and work-process interactions in open-plan offices: a space syntax approach", Archnet-IJAR, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/ARCH-03-2024-0123
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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