Proper desks for 30%

We haven't had a good piece of BBC building b*llocks for a bit, but here comes a belter from Building Magazine, about the new HQ in Wales.  "Every aspect, from floorplan to lighting, and even to carpet patterning, has been designed with neurodiversity considerations in mind", we are told. Here's more, featuring the BBC's Alan Bainbridge. 

Wayfinding is a huge neurodiversity concern and one to which the building takes a very graphic and illustrative approach. In the same way that a large department store or shopping centre may offer a simplified pictorial map of a floorplan by a stair or an escalator, so BBC HQ provides these at frequent points throughout the building. 

But the map here is subtly embossed to provide tactile three-dimensionality and areas are depicted by bright colour boxes marked with coded legend symbols rather than text superimposed onto the graphics. In so doing, texts and graphics are kept separate and the potential challenge of navigating a large building – a source of frustration for neurotypical and neurodiverse employees alike – is assisted by a simplified and colour-based tool which, like the London Underground map, prioritises stark visual clarity over geographical accuracy. 

Bainbridge has also been keen to secure what he calls “a variety of workspaces” to attend to a wide variety of neurological needs. So, while the floorplan is predominantly open-plan, only 30% of workspaces are at traditional fixed sit-down desks. The remainder range from high-stool bench workspaces to less formal upholstered seating in more relaxed areas. Power points are generously provided to facilitate this flexibility. 

Multiple “quiet zones” have also been provided and a huge variety of meeting rooms are on offer. These range from acoustically separated single or group booths with soft upholstered surfaces to more formal frosted glass-fronted meeting rooms. “Open-plan can sometimes get bad press,” muses Bainbridge, “and we even had to have internal debates with some staff who were reluctant to move out of the private office set-up they had grown used to. But it is important to point out that that’s bad open-plan – good open-plan is about offering a choice of spaces, not a homogenous open floorplate.”