Spatial design factors associated with creative work: a systematic literature review

Abstract

The term “creative space” describes a relatively recent phenomenon of innovative workplace design. Such creative workspaces are becoming popular in industry and academia. However, the impact of specific spatial design decisions on creativity and innovation is not yet fully understood. This paper provides an overview of state-of-the-art research on creative work and learning environments. We conducted a systematic literature search within the Scopus database and identified a total of 73 relevant sources discussing creative spaces within academic, practice, and other innovation environments. Among the included sources are 51 academic publications and 22 sources from company research and illustrative coffee-table books. We analyzed the sources using three lenses of interest: (1) the types of theoretical and practical contributions that are provided, (2) the spatial characteristics that are suggested to be beneficial for creativity and innovation, and (3) the discussed potential of new technologies for designing or researching creative spaces. The results provide in-depth insight into the current state of research on the topic of creative spaces. Practitioners, educators, and researchers can use the presented overview to investigate the possible impact of creative workspace design and identify research gaps that can be filled by conducting further research in the field.

Designing Post-Digital Hybrid Workplaces

“…In particular when thinking about a postdigital hybrid conception of work, as the domain for interactions amongst the workforce diversifies, it is important to better understand what the workforces' expectations around privacy will entail and what spatial strategies can best support the emergent needs. Currently, the literature that has predominately been conducted in physical workplace settings places value on diversification of spaces (Nanayakkara et al 2021;Needle and Malia 2021;Sicotte et al 2019;Thoring et al 2020). However, the question this creates is, as work partly moves away from the office, whether diversifying the physical space will be financially, environmentally and also socially viable, and whether spatial diversity can be partially accommodated via digital media and remote sites?…”

“…as well as ergonomics, which may also play an integral role in the wellbeing of individuals, productivity and creativity of individuals and teams and overall performance of an organisation (Chen et al 2020;Nurick and Thatcher 2021). Thoring et al (2020) explain that from the range of ambient indoor qualities, light and sound have been regarded as the most pertinent to creative performance by past research, whilst other studies suggest thermal and lighting conditions to be the most salient aspects when considering environmental comfort (Huang et al 2012, as cited in Papagiannidis and Marikyan 2020). Furthermore, one study of 2537 employees across six countries (in university offices), suggests out of all the IEQs (temperature, air, natural and electric light and acoustics), control of light switches was most linked with perceived sense of productivity (Chen et al 2020).…”

A Systematic Review on FabLab Environments and Creativity: Implications for Design

“…As environments supporting effective exploration and learning, FabLabs and makerspaces can positively influence behaviours such as observation, experimentation, questioning, and networking. FabLabs and makerspaces are seen as types of creative work and learning environments [40]. In such spaces, the users are able to acquire complex knowledge about digital technologies through social-focused learning [95].…”

“…However, no study has focused simultaneously on all the aspects of creativity (person, collaboration, process, physical, social features of the environment, and product) in the context of makerspaces. Consequently, it was suggested that further research is needed to explore the specifics of makerspaces as types of creative work and learning environments [40].…”

A computational framework for supporting architectural education of spaces’ furnishing design

“…32 DES can optimize site allocation for plan spaces within a specific process, while SSA can analyze solutions, validate future designs, and quantify accessibility in only manually test designs not for generating ones (Morgareidge et al 34 ). Also, Thoring et al 35 have identified the requirements of a creative workspace based on utilizing advanced technologies such as Artificial intelligence and Virtual Reality, and have classified the 52 spatial design characteristics to: geographical aspects, architectural aspects, interior aspects, and ambient aspects.…”