Dr Kerstin Sailer explains how the design decisions of architects have an impact on peopleâs behaviour within buildings â and why understanding this is important.
As a student, Dr Kerstin Sailer had a âdeep frustration in architecture schoolâ. It was not enough for her tutors to pronounce a building good or bad: âMy scientific mind was never happy with just gut feeling.â Evidence-based research was more her thing.
A Reader in Social and Spatial Networks at The Bartlettâs Space Syntax Laboratory, Sailer is driven by idea that the design decisions of architects can have an impact on how people move and behave â and research can lead to buildings that are designed to be more human-centred.
She points to the British Library â designed by MJ Long and her husband, Colin St John Wilson â as being all about human scale. âItâs a fascinating building because five thousand people go through it every day, but you never feel youâre a battery hen in there. Each person finds their little space, where they feel at home.â
Studying how people use office space
How people use office spaces is Sailerâs forte. Her most influential paper on the subject is Social Networks and Spatial Configuration â How office layouts drive social interaction. Since its publication in 2012, it has had over 100 citations.
One intriguing insight in the paper focuses on the meaning of distance. âPeople perceive other people based on the same long corridor to be relatively close,â she explains. âWhereas if they had to take multiple turns to cover the same distance, people wouldnât interact so frequently. That impacts on how you mitigate those distances.â
Her impact in the real world includes a long-standing collaboration with architecture practice Spacelab, which use evidence-based design and research insights in their workplace studies. The practice recently revamped fashion retailer Bodenâs HQ in west London.
Some of Sailerâs research in this area suggests that smaller open-plan offices are more preferable than larger ones, because theyâre easier for people to work in. âThere are hints that if you have smaller floorplates, people go out of those floorplates more to meet other people, rather than sticking to those they know best,â she explains. âThe bigger the floorplate and the more people you can see, the more likely people are to stick to their own teams. Smaller floorplates have higher satisfaction rates.â
Applying the research to healthcare
Now Sailer is applying some of her techniques to another type of workplace: hospitals. She is involved in an Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded project, which aims to tackle antimicrobial resistance, meaning âthe world in which antibiotics wonât work anymoreâ. The research, which she describes as obscure but interesting, hopes to come up with design-led ideas around hygiene and hand-care routines for nurses.
Sailerâs base at the Space Syntax Laboratory is the international centre of the theory and methodology known as âspace syntaxâ. The lab studies the effects of spatial design on aspects of social, organisational and economic performance of buildings and urban areas. âWe model the impact that spatial structure has on human behaviour,â she explains.
And the benefits of being at The Bartlett? The institution gives her âa lot of freedom to do the things I think are important, a lot of support, fantastic colleagues, and plenty of opportunity to do things in interdisciplinary wayâ.
Kerstin Sailer is aÌęProfessor in the Sociology of Architecture atÌęThe Bartlett School of Architecture
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