Diverse group of friends cleanup a park during a charity event. They are standing with their arms … [+] around one another.
As awareness of diverse working styles grows, designing workplaces that accommodate neurodiversity has become crucial for fostering inclusive environments. With an estimated 15-20% of the world’s population being neurodiverse, it is essential to create workplaces that are comfortable and flexible for everyone.
In my interview with Brian Stromquist, global leader of design firm Gensler, he said, “There are often innovative design solutions that exceed basic inclusivity standards and help design for neurodiversity in the workplace. My clients want their employees to feel cared for. That means designing distraction-free environments through furniture systems, lighting and temperature controls.”
Stromquist’s team is designing workplaces that cater to neurodivergent individuals through:
- Environmental controls: Distraction-free environments are crucial for neurodiverse individuals. Gensler addresses this with acoustic mitigation, wall configurations and furniture systems that limit visual distractions and enhance physical comfort.
- Neuroaesthetics: Gensler designs for a spectrum of “sensory zones,” with unique acoustic, lighting and tactile characteristics. This approach caters to the body’s physiological responses, offering more subtle neurodiversity-serving design principles.
- “Prospect/Refuge” theory planning: Some neurodivergent individuals need to visually survey their workspace (“prospect”) and feel protected from behind (“refuge”). Gensler incorporates “activated edges” along walls or boundaries where people can sit, oversee the workspace and feel secure.
- “Noise zones”: This design has louder spaces in the front of the workplace, medium noise levels in the middle and quieter areas in the back of the workplace. Inclusive workspaces rarely have assigned seating so that people can match their moods and workflow to the space.
The Why for Inclusive Design
According to Stromquist, “Inclusive design is about giving employees more agency to manage their work environments. People are more productive and hit their flow state when they do their best work with inclusive design. We baseline design for inclusivity from the beginning of every project.”
In my interview with Meaghan Beever, senior strategist at Gensler, she noted workplace trends for neurodiversity.
- Since 2022, there has been a 50% increase in clients asking for information on designing for neurodiversity.
- Recent employment statistics suggest that adults with neurodivergent conditions are one of the most unemployed and underemployed groups in the world.Unemployment for hidden disabilities, which includes many forms of neurodivergence, can be as high as 30-40%. This is 3 times higher than the unemployment rate of individuals living with other types of disabilities. It seems critical then to understand how the workplaces we design could enable this significant amount of untapped talent to thrive.
- One in six people who are neurodivergent experience a mental health problem in any given week. While mental health conditions are not always a part of neurodivergence, they co-occur at a higher rate than is found in the general population. For many, sensory overload is a key contributor to stress and anxiety.
Oftentimes, when we design workplaces to be inclusive for neurodivergent people, they work better for all employees, not just those who are neurodivergent. Similar to the mantra, “a rising tide lifts all boats,” what works for some often works better for all.
Inclusive-Design Case Studies
In recent years, inclusive design has evolved with more awareness around neurodiversity. One of Stromquist’s partners is LinkedIn. They recently launched LinkedIn Mod, which is a new type of workspace for engineers. It mimics a library setting that minimizes distracting acoustics and has tunable lighting that gives engineers control of their micro-environments. Everything is intentionally selected to create familiarity and flexibility to co-create the environment to work for every employee.
As Stromquists sees it, “You’re leveling the playing field by giving everyone the opportunity to find a space that aligns with their needs and comfort level. This is important because human bodies have psychological responses to their environments. The goal is that any employee can make the work environment work for them.”
Uber provides another case study. They had a dauntingly large space at the old post office building in Chicago, which was nearly as large as three football fields. Knowing this could be overwhelming to anyone, especially neurodivergent folks, there was an intentional approach to create zones to segment the office layout. Stromquist’s team conducted a proactive “prospect/refuge” to activate the edges of the building. That’s important for everyone to feel safe by being able to see in front of them and feel supported with walls behind their bodies where they cannot see.
Inclusive workspace design is important, not just for those experiencing neurodiversity, but rather for all humans who want to maximize their productivity and flow states. With environmental controls, neuroaesthetics, “prospect/refuge” considerations and “noise zones,” workplaces can work better for all humans.
