
The designed environment
A neurotypical and neurodiverse perspective
Our wellbeing in the workplace is impacted by whether the built environment anticipates and meets our sensory needs.
The diversity in skill and knowledge of our interior design team is unique. For four decades, our designers have successfully delivered interior environments for numerous sectors including workplace, health, retail, education, research, residential and public buildings. Our team are experts in resolving complex design issues and bring an extensive understanding of interiors and economics that is not limited to one sector alone.
Hames Sharley’s designers are able to draw upon their creative flair and extensive knowledge of interior spaces, materials and furnishings to create environments that engage, inspire and cater for the sustainment of an organisations vision in a competitive marketplace.
Nowadays most of our time is spent indoors, so it’s vital to check the quality of our indoor environments. The importance of proper ventilation in support of indoor air quality (IAQ), for example, cannot be overstated in assessing the spaces we inhabit. Existing research suggests that poor ventilation may lead to increased indoor CO₂ levels that can cause cognitive function scores to drop significantly, and may be a key cause of tiredness, concentration problems, and even ill-health.
This research focused on the real-time monitoring of CO₂ levels in Hames Sharley’s new studio in Perth, Western Australia. Hames Sharley is committed to providing a quality workplace that optimises comfort, wellbeing, and productivity. This study provided the multidisciplinary design studio with the opportunity to assess its building’s performance and its responsiveness to the dynamics of a hybrid agile workplace setting through its real-time HVAC system sensor data.
‘How can we better design to advance inclusion and equity’ and ‘How do we encourage staff and clients to challenge cognitive bias and employ compassion and understanding?’ Our strategic goal is to challenge and ultimately break barriers, understand our unconscious biases, and deliver on inclusive and equitable design in our communities.
When you think of designing for aged care, the use of light might not be the first thing that comes to mind. But a growing body of evidence suggests the clever use of lighting can have extraordinary effects on seniors’ health, safety and peace of mind.
According to interior designer and Hames Sharley Principal Errol Chiplowitz, the popularity of integrated resorts worldwide (that combine accommodation, retail, gaming and entertainment) looks set to rise after the COVID-19 pandemic. Chiplowitz, who has 25 years’ international experience in the sector, says now is the time to prepare for an inevitable return of demand.
We are often oblivious to the many factors which are involved in creating successful internal spaces. Particularly in terms of the colour palette specified. Interior Designers have many influences, both obvious and complex, which play a key role when deciding on colour.
When was the last time you went to a beautifully designed building and felt drawn to your surroundings in a way that made you feel better? Because the space spoke to you, ushered in relief, engaged your senses, enhanced within you a sense of… wellness? We investigate ‘The Architecture of Happiness’...