Workplaces that design and accommodate for workers with disabilities and neurodiversity result in environments that are better for everyone.
Nine years ago, Kay Sargent was asked how to design a space for someone with ADHD. Her team of designers had an “okay” answer but not a good one.
Since then, HOK, the global design and architecture firm where Sargent is a senior principal, set out to do multiple research reports, surveys and assessments and partnered with numerous universities and experts. The result: a plethora of information about how not to just design for physical disabilities, which account for about 18% of the population, but also address sensory processing and cognitive wellbeing. They’re actively seeking to understand and accommodate for the neurodiverse, or those who interact, think, process and absorb information differently and can have a wide range of conditions, whether it’s ADHD, dyslexia or various autistic spectrum diagnoses.
The most compelling aspect of HOK’s research? When these kinds of accommodations are made to create spaces that are inclusive and inviting for those with disabilities, you’re really making the workplace better for everyone. Designing for everybody is particularly resonant as we celebrate Disability Pride month in July.
“When you design for the extreme, you benefit the mean,” says Sargent, who is also HOK’s director of thought leadership. “Every single person is being impacted by sound, light, temperature, so we have to think about how to design more holistically for everybody.”
—HOK
The end of one-size-fits-all
The recently released book, Designing Neuroinclusive Workspaces, details HOK’s research and case studies. The takeaway? We’re seeing the end of the one-size-fits-all philosophy that organizations have embraced for the past 40 years. Designers are now thinking deeply about giving people options and choices and some degree of control.
Eight years ago, when HOK began talking about neurodiversity, no one understood what the word meant. Today, inclusivity has become a hot topic of conversation this year in design circles. Designers, construction companies, furniture suppliers and even carpet makers are embracing neurodiverse design. Even flooring companies are unveiling carpets that dampen noise, eliminate odors and toxins, and help with wayfinding in spaces.
“Every one of our clients right now is saying, ‘How do we make people more productive, engaged and empowered?’” says Sargent. “Addressing sensory distractions is a huge part of that.”
—ROOM
Leaning into workspaces for all people
Just as we transformed the way buildings were designed to accommodate physical disabilities 35 years ago, the design world is beginning to go above and beyond what is required for ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements, says Sargent. Oracle and Microsoft, in particular, have brought in consultants that have looked at things like the height of the elevator buttons for wheelchairs, the location of buttons for automatic doors, and more, says Sargent. IBM and Bloomberg, meanwhile, have focused efforts on accommodating blind employees.
This summer, ROOM released its new Room Collection, a system of modular architecture which includes medium-sized and larger-sized prefabricated office pods that accommodate executive offices, expanded team meetings—and offer ADA accommodations. The pods feature a clear turning radius of at least 60 inches for maximum mobility, a wider entry clearance and minimal threshold for easier wheelchair access, and even height adjustable tables.
ROOM spent five years designing the inclusive pods—not spaces that just meet legal requirements, but spaces that are actually inviting. “It was all very carefully considered,” says Justin Dollinger, ROOM’s vice president of product engineering.
In just the past two or three years, there has been a big shift in how designers are thinking about people with disabilities, says Sargent.
“Instead of focusing on an individual’s potential restrictions, it’s about focusing on the fact that it’s the environment, and our attitudes and society that is actually excluding people,” says Sargent. If the space is designed to accommodate them, then they are not at a disadvantage. It’s about meeting people where they are rather than expecting them to fit into our definition of how they should be working.
Sargent points to a comment made by one of the autistic students HOK interviewed in its research who said, ‘We are freshwater fish in salt water. If you put us in fresh water, we will function just fine but if you leave us in salt water, we will struggle to survive.’
Our sensitivities have changed
HOK’s research found that the pandemic fundamentally reset how sensitive we are to our environment. Hybrid work makes going in between these extremes harder for our minds and bodies to reset. It also found that a lot of open spaces are poorly planned and that they need to be rethought more holistically.
—Gensler
Offering a variety of workspace options enables people to choose the kind of environment that feels comfortable. That could be a space for people who like more stimulation and activity that they feed off of. Or it could be a space that is quieter, more cozy with fewer distractions. It could be a brightly lit space and then also one that’s dimmer and warm. All of this takes into consideration texture, temperature, light, and noise in addition to a variety of workspaces. HOK has a list of 161 things that companies should be thinking about to make physical accommodations.
Says Sargent: “This is really about cognitive wellbeing and inclusion and creating environments where every single one of us can thrive.”