Neuroarchitecture: How your home’s design affects productivity when you work remotely

When home becomes the office, its design can influence how people feel, concentrate and carry out their work. For Justina Leone, a founding partner at Leone Loray, that makes the relationship between a person and their surroundings especially important.

“From a neuroarchitecture perspective, certain characteristics of the environment, such as light, noise, temperature, views, layout or even our ability to control those conditions, can support concentration and well-being or, on the contrary, create distractions, fatigue and stress,” Leone explains.

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From neuroarchitecture we understand that certain characteristics of the environment, such as light, noise, temperature, views, layout or even our ability to control those conditions, can support concentration and well-being or, on the contrary, create distractions, fatigue and stress.

A suitable home workspace requires more than adding a desk. “It is not simply about adding a desk, but understanding where a person works, for how long, in what way and what that person needs to function better,” she says. Her studio’s approach begins by understanding each client’s routines and way of living before making design decisions.

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It is not simply about adding a desk, but understanding where a person works, for how long, in what way and what that person needs to function better.

The environment constantly sends information to the brain, even when people do not consciously register every stimulus. Poor lighting, noise, visual interruptions, uncomfortable temperatures and air quality can all affect the conditions in which a task is performed. If people must continually filter noise, adapt their eyes to inadequate light or cope with an uncomfortable temperature, part of their attention goes toward managing those conditions.

Leone says a comfortable space that fits the activity can reduce those distractions and support longer periods of concentration. Research on indoor environmental quality particularly links thermal comfort, air quality, lighting and acoustics with performance in workspaces.

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When the environment requires us to constantly filter noise, adapt our eyes to poor lighting or work at an uncomfortable temperature, part of our attention is devoted to managing those conditions.

There is no universal configuration. Someone who needs eight hours of individual concentration has different requirements from a person who spends much of the day in video calls, or a family in which two people work from home at the same time. For Leone, design is therefore not only what people see, but also what they experience.

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For us, design is not only what we see, but also what we experience.