The Psycho-Social Influence of Building Environment: Sociometric Findings in Large and Small Office Spaces

This chapter discusses the possible psychological factors influencing the decision to opt for deep block and open office design, and shows that the social milieu, and thus the psychological climate, of large and small offices are in fact radically different. Psychologists spend a great deal of time defining and examining the concept of "environment' and in describing the influence of the environment on the human being. People working in the larger office spaces produced the greater outgoing choice volume: in sociometric terms exhibiting a higher level of "expansivity" than workers in the small areas. The sociometric method is used principally as a tool for the examination of the social structure of groups of less than about forty people, and more usually still, for smaller ones. The youngest group of 15-19 year olds composed 43 per cent of the population, and older workers, the age groups over 40, accounted for 21 per cent.