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The study's main objective is to evaluate the morphological developments in the characteristics of the spatial configurations of the residential layouts in Kerman, Iran, in examining the impact on the level of visual privacy through the spectrum of permeability and wayfinding in space syntax analysis.

In this paper, plan graph analysis is used to measure the syntactic properties of seven topological residential architecture plans in Kerman, Iran, built from the 1970s to 2010s. The methodology involves the development of mathematical measurements to signify permeability and simulation of visibility graph analysis (VGA) to indicate wayfinding.

The findings reveal the residential layouts of Iranian houses tend to be less integrated over decades of design development from the 1970s to 2010s. Reduction in spatial integration corresponds to increase segregation allowing for enhanced visual privacy. The study underpins that, even with the constraints in the scale of the house and reduction in the number of nodes, as evident in the design of the modern residential layout, the efficient level of visual privacy is still achievable with regards to the standards demanded by the local culture.

The study examines the development in residential spatial configuration and building scale on visual privacy through a proposed methodology based on the level of permeability and wayfinding measured as a combined effect using the space syntax analysis and visual accessibility.

The purpose of this paper is to explore managers' and employees' opinions regarding privacy in open plan offices and also investigate the relationship between the perception of managers and employees on visual and acoustical privacy in order to provide better design solutions in an open plan office setting.

The research method is a structured interview. The categorized data are analyzed with percentage of frequency distributions and Chi square analysis. A total of 42 subjects were interviewed and separated in two groups as managers and employees.

It was found that lack of privacy still exists as an unsolved negative aspect in open plan offices. Findings indicated that there is a strong desire for employees to change and control their physical working space when both visual and acoustical privacy is needed in an open plan office setting. Another finding is that there is a difference of opinion regarding visual privacy between managers and employees.

The limitation of the paper is that the sample is small and all subjects' occupations are computer‐related. Future studies are needed to further investigate diverse subjects in a larger population. Any future research instrument would have to be different from a structured interview.

Research findings provide valid recommendations to system furniture designers and manufacturers. System furniture design needs to be modular and easily changeable and adjustable for open plan offices.

The significant contribution of this research is that it provided valid data and makes a valuable contribution to the body of knowledge in open plan office design.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse privacy and interaction preferences in the social dimension of individual learning students and how the spatial configuration affects individual learners’ choices of learning spaces.

This empirical survey study was conducted in an Australian university’s informal learning spaces. Space syntax theories are applied to construct a four-quadrant theoretical framework.

The research findings indicate that based on the differences between students in their individual characteristics, there are significant differences in their needs for privacy and interaction. This study reveals that the spatial configuration affects individual learners’ choices of learning spaces.

This study could assist universities in providing students with more effective and diverse informal learning spaces.

The excellence in design and greater efficiencies (EDGE) certification system has seen a gradual adoption worldwide, with Ghana having six out of its eight certified green buildings bearing an EDGE certification. However, little is known about occupants’ satisfaction with the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) of EDGE-certified buildings. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the satisfaction of occupants with the IEQ of an EDGE-certified building in Ghana by identifying their perceived performance of the indoor environment relative to their perceived importance.

A survey was conducted to evaluate the performance of 12 IEQ parameters with the occupants of an EDGE-certified office building. The survey results were evaluated using a gap analysis and both traditional and alternative Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) matrices.

The findings revealed that noise level, temperature, cleanliness, sound privacy, air quality and humidity were IEQs that required the highest priority for improvement. Daylight and artificial lighting showed no appreciable performance gap. Space layout was adequately satisfied, whereas space size was overly satisfied. Visual privacy and outdoor view were found to require low priority of improvement.

This study contributes to the state-of-the-art of the IEQ of green buildings. It pioneers the research that seeks to examine the IEQ of EDGE-certified buildings. The gap analysis and the IPA were effective in prioritizing the IEQs for improvement action and provided a practical research framework that helped researchers examine the performance of green buildings, thereby giving valuable feedback to policymakers and building owners.

One way organizations increase their competitive advantage is through innovative strategies that improve human performance. Human performance can be enhanced or constrained by situational factors that are introduced into the organization's work environment. One situational factor is the organization's workspace. This study examines the impact of a new workspace technology on individual privacy and on team interaction. The research found that the participants were generally satisfied with the visual privacy but not with the auditory privacy. The research also found that the participants were satisfied with the workspace's ability to facilitate team interaction. Implications of the findings are discussed.

This research study aims to explore sociocultural factors such as privacy and gender segregation as they relate to the spatial perception of women's spaces within the vernacular Qatari household, and the activities, habits and practiced culture of its inhabitants.

This analysis utilizes the Space Syntax methodology to examine a sample of vernacular courtyard houses with respect to space connectivity, conducting an analytical exploration of the role of women based on the system of activities.

The findings shed light on the spatial complexity and sensitivity of the Qatari household as it reflects the prevailing sociocultural imperatives in Qatari urbanities, including the country's capital, Doha.

This research study thus reinforces the importance of traditional residential architecture in conserving Qatar's distinctive architectural identity, rooted in its sociocultural attributes.

Sociocultural features such as privacy and gender segregation are among the most prominent factors influencing the spatial form of vernacular courtyard houses in the Arabian Gulf country of Qatar.

It is argued that within a typical vernacular Qatari household, women's spaces are the least connected (most segregated) areas, due mainly to the influence of privacy norms and gender segregation on the spatial configuration of the house.

This paper aims to present arguments about how a complex concept of privacy labeling can be a solution to the current state of privacy.

The authors give a precise definition of Privacy Labeling (PL), painting a panoptic portrait from seven different perspectives: Business, Legal, Regulatory, Usability and Human Factors, Educative, Technological and Multidisciplinary. They describe a common vision, proposing several important “traits of character” of PL as well as identifying “undeveloped potentialities”, i.e. open problems on which the community can focus.

This position paper identifies the stakeholders of the PL and their needs with regard to privacy, describing how PL should be and look like to address these needs. Main aspects considered are the PL’s educational power to change people’s knowledge of privacy, tools useful for constructing PL and the possible visual appearances of PL. They also identify how the present landscape of privacy certifications could be improved by PL.

The authors adopt a multidisciplinary approach to defining PL as well as give guidelines in the form of goals, characteristics, open problems, starting points and a roadmap for creating the ideal PL.

This paper aims to investigate the potential role of the Emergency Department (ED) layout in enhancing its functionality. It applies a performance-based building design (PBBD) approach to evaluate emergency department functionality and efficiency as the most important criterion behind the success of the hospital service.

A quantitative approach based on space syntax theory was adopted through four syntactic maps (isovist, axial, convex, and visibility graph analysis VGA), to depict three case studies in Erbil city hospitals by analyzing three different layout typologies of ED such as Podular, Ballroom and Linear through measuring wayfinding, accessibility, privacy, visibility, time spend-length of stay and corridor circulation as layout factors.

This paper provides empirical insights on how the ED layout typology factors significantly affect producing functionally efficient EDs, whereas the Ballroom ED layout typology is the most effective compared to others. Given the importance of ED in enhancing a healthy environment for patients and staff, study findings are valuable resource for health designers, who play a critical role in ensuring patients enjoy a healthy and safe environment.

This paper has attempted to identify the appropriate layout of ED for effective functional performance in hospitals. A syntactical analysis between three different ED layout typologies based on the layout variables has been analysed using the PBBD approach. There has been no attempt carried out so far to analyse the functional performance of the PBBD approach in different ED layouts using layout variables.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the effects of environmental factors in open-plan offices with the same characteristics but with different workstation partition heights (1.10, 1.40 and 1.65 m) on perceptual evaluations of office employees.

In this research, the effects of environmental factors on employees’ perceptual evaluations in open-plan offices at the Gölbaşı Region of Ankara were measured with a detailed questionnaire. The research data were obtained from 81 employees who agreed to fill out the questionnaire and who use open-plan offices.

It was found that the office environments with 1.65 m workstation partition heights were more favorably assessed for each of the items of planning and of privacy that form the dependent variables compared to the office environments with 1.10  and 1.40 m partition heights. On the other hand, the office environments with the 1.10 and 1.40 m partition heights were more favorable for lighting items than the 1.65 m partition height office environments. In addition, young employees had a more positive tendency toward the perceptions of environmental factors, including different workstation partition heights in open-plan offices, compared to older employees.

Results of this research provide a fundamental contribution for the impact of various partition heights that have substantial implications on the perceptions of open-plan office environments. At this point, as open-plan offices have important effects on the quality of employees’ work experiences, the influence of various partition heights on the performance of employees should be emphasized in future studies. The diversity of performance (reading comprehension, calculation, design, drawing, etc.) will be an important decision.

The significant contribution of this research is that it provides valid data and makes a valuable contribution to the body of knowledge in open-plan office design.

From poor indoor environmental quality conditions to musculoskeletal discomfort, the interior design of workspaces has the potential to negatively affect human health. One of the key responses from industry has been the rise of health-related guidelines, certification and rating tools. Despite the rapid adoption of such tools by the Australian high-end corporate real estate, there is a scarcity of empirical evidence arising from such premises. This study aims to compare results from certified premises against other open-plan offices to understand differences arising from occupants’ satisfaction, perceived productivity and health.

A total of 1,121 post-occupancy evaluation (POE) surveys conducted in 9 offices were analyzed. All these premises hold a certification from the Green Building Council of Australia and two achieved a WELL rating. The analysis is performed in three parts: comparing WELL-certified (2 cases) and non-WELL certified (7 cases) offices along with comparison with a benchmark of 9,794 POE surveys from the BOSSA database, comparing activity-based working (ABW) (5 cases) and traditional (4 cases) offices along with comparison with BOSSA database and qualitative study of the similar design features in all 9 offices accompanied with an in-depth analysis of the health-related issues that might have occurred because of poor ergonomic design. For the first two parts, several t-tests are performed.

Highest scores for overall satisfaction, workability, perceived productivity and health were reported on WELL-rated premises. Offices incorporating active design principles outperformed others on workability, satisfaction with work area, collaboration, unwanted interruptions, perceived productivity and health. ABW environments outperformed the traditional offices on spatial comfort, thermal comfort, noise and privacy, personal control, comfort of furnishing, adjustability of the work area and space to collaborate. People using sit–stand workstations reported spending significantly less time seated and female workers were more prone to reporting pain over the past 12 months. The best-performing offices implemented active and biophilic design, prioritized overall ergonomics and different spaces designed to support a variety of work-related activities.

This research conducts a comparison between certified premises against other offices in terms of occupants’ satisfaction, perceived productivity and health. A qualitative analysis is also conducted to investigate personal and physical environmental aspects. The way of working (ABW or traditional), implementation of active design features, self-reported musculoskeletal discomfort and physical activity were also investigated. The study has taken a holistic approach to investigate many health-related physical, environmental and emotional aspects in certified workspaces.