Elements of Comfort and Satisfaction in the Office Workspace

Abstract

The environments in which people work affect their performance. Persons involved in the design of spaces therefore influence work output by the designs and specifications they produce. The highest performance is to be expected from people working in conditions that satisfy their physiological and psychological comfort needs. A survey was conducted in offices in Accra and Kumasi to investigate comfort conditions in the workspace. Office staff indicated their satisfaction with conditions in the immediate work environment. Storage space generates the highest level of dissat-isfaction in respondents. Privacy, image of the workplace, and overall environmental comfort are also areas of considerable dissatisfaction. Occupation, far more than age, determines the environmental comfort demands of office staff.