Restoration Space: Designing for Improved Workplace Culture and Health

Abstract

Depression, as the leading cause of disability in the United States among people ages 15 - 44 and the top workplace issue. The goal of this thesis is to explore and identify strategies for designing for depression in the workplace. It aims to develop further the relationship between the built environment and the process of managing the vast symptoms and causes of workplace depression, stress, and anxiety. The goal will be to create spaces that encourage connection to nature, sensory comfort, physical wellness, and building social relations as a part of the solution. By understanding the difficulty of depression in the workplace and how those with depression react to their surroundings this thesis aims to design for health, engagement, and happiness.