This thesis proposes a model of understanding the constraining effect of floorplates on the integration of office layouts. The proposed model is based on the analysis of floorplates and layouts which is simultaneously configurational, global and robust. The study departs from two observations: first, there is a difference between the lifespan of shells and layouts; second, shells influence but do not determine the layouts than can be accommodated in them. The thesis proposes two descriptions of shape which gauge their compactness and convex fragmentation based on configurational relations among modular units of shape. Shapes of actual floorplates are described according to the proposed measures leading to a typology of office buildings. The space syntax research on workspaces has demonstrated that the integration of layout circulation affects the patterns of movement, encounter and interaction, which are linked to organizational performance. Actual layouts are described according to skewness and density of connectivity of linear maps leading to three alternative types of office layouts: sparse grids, dense grids and fishbones. Two ideal layouts of grids and fishbones, extracted from the typology, reflect opposing ways of increasing the layout integration and best represent open-plan layouts. Experiments with hypothetical grids and fishbones generated systematically on theoretical shapes demonstrate strong but differing effects of shape on layout integration. These are subsequently confirmed by the analysis of hypothetical grids and fishbones generated into a large sample of actual office buildings in the US. The relationship between floorplate shape and layout is mediated by the generative principle applied to the generation of layout. There exists an underlying congruence between a morphological typology of layouts (which distinguishes between fishbone and grid as alternative principles for increasing integration) and a morphological typology of shapes (which distinguishes between more compact and convexly unified shapes and shapes with wings). The findings highlight the distinction between constraint and determination. Floorplate shapes exercise underlying constraints upon the layout integration but they do not determine it. The proposed model enhances the evaluation of existing building portfolios for their suitability for different types of office layouts and aids the design and planning of new work environments.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--York University, 2007. Graduate Programme in Computer Science. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-117). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR38843

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Today, most of us work and many of us are full-time employees. Millions of people spend the majority of their time at an office place working with other people, often in a group working with other groups. We can sense that the office is a site where we connect with others.It seems fairly obvious that when designing any office place, the need for social interaction should always be considered. Still, the contribution of the office environment to any office worker's social life is often overlooked or unobserved. The central question posed by this thesis is: Can an office place be more responsive to the social needs of humans?To address this question, the first portion of this thesis documents the need for social interaction in our everyday life and its benefits for individuals as well as the community. The second portion interprets photographs taken outside and inside conventional office environments in Indianapolis, Indiana; the photo galleries reveal the behavior of regular people around and in the work place. Three cases studies are then offered; the cases provide insights into design and the participatory processes central tosocialization. To conclude, design recommendations are offered that will better connect people to other people in the office place.This work is based on personal observations along with readings done in related subject matter as observed by social psychologists, philosophers, architects, and designers. Research conducted in the field of management provides an additional line of inquiry and its own perspectives. / Department of Architecture

Thesis (B. Arch.)--Roger Williams University, 2007. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online via Digital Commons @ RWU.

Thesis (M.B.A.)----University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2008. / Title from PDF title page (viewed May 27, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 44-46)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2009. / Open access. Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-94). Print copy also available.

This thesis describes a new approach to office layout problems. Group technology methods are used in grouping office employees into cells followed by cell placement along a pre-established network of aisles. Differences between office and manufacturing layout approaches are discussed. Sample problems are presented and the program description is included.

A field study was conducted to find whether open office architecture is related to employees' perceptions of their jobs and their work groups, and to their behavior in and around their work stations. Fifty-two employees in the administrative division of a large manufacturing operation volunteered to participate by answering a questionnaire and allowing their work stations to be analyzed for levels of visual access and visual exposure, the two independent variables. Access and exposure, at first theorized to be independent and interacting functions, were found to be too highly correlated in this open off ice setting to test as originally planned. The design was modified by combining the measures of access and exposure, thereby creating a new independent variable called visual information. Under the modified design, results supported a prediction that less visual information would correlate with more positive responses to survey items about employees' job characteristics, and a prediction that less visual information would correlate with higher rates of work station occupancy. But there was no support for a prediction that more visual information would correlate with more positive responses to survey items about employees' work groups, nor was there support for a prediction that more visual information would correlate with fewer numbers of personal items displayed at employees' work stations. Suggestions were made for more appropriate tests of the original design in order to determine whether visual access and visual exposure operate as independent and interacting dynamics.