Designing for Human Performance: Reframing Active Design as a Productivity Strategy in Smart Office Buildings

Abstract

The built environment strongly influences employee movement, wellbeing and performance at work. Active Design in the workplace promotes physical activity and healthier behaviours each day through purposeful spatial and architectural interventions. Active design is gaining global recognition, however there is a paucity of empirical evidence documenting its productivity-related outcomes in the South African office-building context. We explore how active design projects enhance end-user performance and productivity, based on empirical data from an exploratory mixed-methods study. A qualitative-dominant comparative case study approach was employed, with two corporate office buildings chosen, one with active design interventions and the other representing a more conventional workplace environment. Data were collected through structured and semi-structured interviews with building occupants, employers and built environment professionals. The analysis concentrated on end-user perceptions of movement, wellbeing, fatigue, workplace satisfaction, productivity and organisational value. Results suggest that active design strategies, such as attractive staircases, walkable internal pathways, daylight, flexible workspaces and infrastructure supporting wellness, positively influence perceived productivity and performance. The greatest benefits were non-direct with participants linking active design environments with greater activity, improved mental wellbeing, reduced fatigue, improved morale and increased satisfaction at work. But the findings also suggest that organisational culture, employee engagement and management support play a role in productivity outcomes. The paper ends by suggesting that active design be conceptualized as a workplace productivity strategy that supports human performance indirectly via wellbeing- and behaviour-related pathways rather than an explicit, measurable productivity mechanism. Further studies with objective productivity indicators are recommended.

Keywords: Active Design, Built Environment Innovation, Human Performance, Smart Office Buildings, Workplace Productivity

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1008162