Fast Company contributor Patrick Sisson reports on HOK’s recent research and design work to make labs and scientific workplaces more accommodating for neurodivergent employees.
HOK’s recent research, in collaboration with UK-based Advanced Research Clusters (ARC) and the University of the West of Scotland, continues to generate buzz in the scientific community and beyond.
A recent Fast Company article by contributor Patrick Sisson dug deep into the team’s research report: Designing Neuroinclusive Laboratory Environments. The article features commentary from the report’s co-author, HOK’s Kay Sargent, and the surprising findings from the research, such as a survey of lab workers and scientists in which nearly half of respondents identified as being neurodivergent. The same survey found nearly 25% of respondents identified as autistic.
From the article:
That’s an opportunity to rethink design and radically change how labs look and operate, says HOK principal Kay Sargent, the firm’s director of thought leadership for interiors. The research found a gaping need for inclusive scientific spaces that holistically look at and rethink auditory, visual, and tactile elements to eliminate sources of disruption and disengagement.
In short, Sargent says, traditional lab design raises a key question: “Are you eliminating the potential for people who are really going to be game changers to be successful?”
This research led HOK to put forth a blueprint for a more inclusive lab design. It’s a set of principles and design ideas that researchers, architects, and designers believe will make lab spaces more comfortable for all. …
HOK’s solution is a lab neighborhood, featuring a variety of neurozones meant to break up the floor plan and the workday. A mock 100-person lab prototype included in the report is subdivided into two wings, with a central bay that include congregate and creative space for collaboration. Commune modes of space, more akin to the standard layout, are next to the central bay to maintain financially required density, but sport a wider range of seating, benching, and furniture options.
Further out from the core, a number of differentiated spaces offer more varied, inclusive environments: a series of biophilic terrariums break up repetitious seating and views to create quiet space for hypersensitive researchers; contemplative pods offer spaces for group meetings and work; quieter commune spaces on the edges include more acoustic absorption and organic furniture and bench seating. …
“I know no one who isn’t impacted by sound, color, temperature, or texture,” says Sargent. “But what might be annoying for someone who’s neurotypical can be debilitating for someone that’s neurodivergent. They tend to be that canary in the coal mine, and they’re going to feel it first, and they’re going to feel it more intensely. But it doesn’t mean that it’s not impacting every other person in a space.”
Read more on fastcompany.com.