Physical Work Environments for Creativity. A literature review investigating the relationship between organisational creativity and the physical work environment.

Abstract

This thesis investigates the relationship between organisational creativity and the physical workplace environment, looking at the conditions that are considered to promote or inhibit creativity. The concepts of creativity and the physical work environment are multifaceted and subjective, and the method of a literature review was chosen to navigate this complexity and explore a wide range of sources. A comprehensive search and selection process based upon a feature map identified 18 peer-reviewed journal articles of high relevance. Research designs and assumptions varied significantly across the collected studies, often being based either on empiricism and instrumental perspectives, or upon symbolic relationships of indirect influence. Despite this variation it was unanimously documented that the physical work environment can influence creativity. Elements of the physical workplace that were shown to affect creativity include those that govern basic working conditions, such as light, temperature, sound, and space; a variation of spaces, ideally balancing team and private spaces, work and relaxation or fun; and an overall level of aesthetics and interior design. The reliability of available literature on this topic is limited by the subjectivity and complexity of both creativity and the physical workplace setting, and highlights the need to establish a reliable dialogue between these two concepts in order to holistically study the relationship between them.