Health 'can be maximised by office design'

26-07-2007

Office design can be tailored to maximise health, a new report claims.

Entitled Building Health, the study from the National Heart Forum (NHF) in collaboration with public-space charity Living Streets and the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (Cabe) asserts that building design has an effect on the wellbeing of its inhabitants.

The report states: "The shared space of our urban realm has a huge impact on our health."

It argues that "there should be more active dissemination of evidence on the implications of architectural harmony on health and wellbeing".

According to the document, although single-use buildings ease planning, they do not foster communities and stronger interaction between developers and investors should be encouraged.

It also maintains that stairwell design has not been prioritised as a means to encourage activity, citing disability regulations and the central role of stairwells as fire escape routes, separate from the core of the building, as factors in this.

Established in 1984, the NHF states its purpose as acting as an "authoritative body" to publicise policies directed at heart disease prevention on a national level in the UK.

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