Familiarity: workplaces that include the neurodiverse

For neurodivergent people, the workplace experience is often fraught with challenges. ‘Work… is at the heart of so many challenges for neurodivergent folks,’ writes Jenara Nerenberg in Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn’t Designed for You.

Haworth’s goal is simple: we aim to create spaces where everyone can thrive and work well. How does that look for neurodivergent people?

Victor Bourdariat, lead designer for Haworth’s Europe Product development team, believes inclusive spaces for neurodivergent people begin with a sense of familiarity and belonging. ‘Everybody has a place in the workplace,’ Victor said. ‘Everybody should be able to experience the sense of belonging within an organisation.’

To study the links between neurodiversity and workplace belonging, Victor and Haworth UK collaborated with Chelsea College of Arts (UAL) on a 2024 spring term course – a collaboration that culminated in the Clerkenwell Design Week event, Breaking Barriers.

A talented group of thirteen Year 2 students from the BA (Hons) Product and Furniture Design course investigated neurodiversity in the context of workplace themes like acoustics, space division, and biophilia. Drawing on UK industry standards, Victor’s real-world expertise, and their own extensive research, each student conceptualised a product that could improve the workplace experience for neurodivergent people.

From the submitted projects, Victor chose four finalists to present their concepts at Breaking Barriers: Championing Neurodiversity in Office Design, which kicked off CDW 2024 for Haworth London. The four projects – including the eventual winner of a Haworth Design Award – are previewed below. 

How do today’s design students envision more inclusive workspaces for neurodivergent people?

The four projects displayed during Breaking Barriers were quite varied, including a space divider, a tabletop planter, upholstered weighted cushions, and a sculptural conversation starter – but Victor saw a core concept uniting them.

‘When I saw the four together, I just realised they were talking about the same thing, but differently,’ Victor said. ‘And the four of them were actually talking about familiarity.’

‘Familiarity is the first path to reach a sense of belonging,’ Victor said. ‘If your product or space is perceived as familiar to employees, then you will feel safe, you will feel comfortable, you will feel included – because you will recognise yourself. You will project yourself into what’s surrounding you – and I felt that’s actually quite a good definition of what belonging is, where you can… project yourself into the space and to the product.’

Zenimals by Marie-Charlotte Roy

Zenimals are weighted, upholstered cushions filled with rice. Just like weighted blankets used at home, weighted cushions can be held to decrease anxiety. Zenimals are compact, so they can be carried throughout the workday as people move from setting to setting.

It is important to include a variety of colours and textures when designing for neurodivergent people. Some people are highly sensitive to colour and texture while others require above-average inputs to achieve an average response.

Zenimals allow for a variety of colours and patterns – from bright and energetic or calming and serene. A range of textures are possible as well, allowing users to choose a smooth velvet or polyester, a springy wool, or a chunky boucle.

Terra Scape by Isabel Ogunjuyigbe

Victor described Terra Scape as a ‘planter that’s more than a planter.’ Terra Scape brings nature close to hand – and nature provides a sense of comfort and familiarity. Regular plant maintenance provides a destressing respite from regular work activities. 

‘If you walk in the woods, you will have this sense of calm and comfort, because it’s natural,’ Victor says. ‘You don’t ask yourself about logic. There are just trees surrounding you… there is no question behind.’

Terra Scape comes in a range of finishes, allowing users to choose either High Stimulation or Low Stimulation colours.

Conversation Enabler by Alicia Hackett

For neurodivergent people, starting conversations can feel especially challenging. (This is also true for people who don’t feel proficient in an office’s dominant language.)

Victor described the Conversation Enabler as a sculptural ‘open library’. Neurodivergent people are ‘social as much as anyone else,’ Victor says. The piece aims to ease conversational barriers to entry that can otherwise scuttle socialising.

The Conversation Enabler invites people to bring personally meaningful objects to the office to display as conversation starters. These favourite objects might be a puppy figurine for a dog lover, a new tea, an action figure from someone’s favourite anime, or even a plant that will (hopefully!) thrive with a bit of collective care.

These familiar objects become shortcuts into conversation. Over time, these moments of connection will steadily build a sense of community in the workplace – for neurodivergent and neurotypical employees alike. ‘When we talk about inclusive design and inclusivity, then it has to be for everybody,’ Victor said.

Water Lilies by Punpun Phophientong

Water Lilies is a space divider informed by extensive research into calming patterns, materials, and colours. The divider imbues spaces with a sense of natural tranquillity – and it mitigates distracting, high-frequency noise. 

Acoustics are an important part of making spaces better for everyone. According to Leesman, most people find the noise levels in their offices unsatisfactory. And Jenara Nerenberg notes in Divergent Mind that ‘the topic of sound came up again and again’ in her research. ‘Neurodivergent folks are affected more intensely by sound than neurotypical individuals,’ she writes. ‘The role that hearing plays in our experience of the world cannot be overstated.’  

The Water Lilies divider displayed was made of acoustic BuzziFelt from BuzziSpace. Made of 100% upcycled plastic bottle waste, BuzziFelt absorbs ‘high frequency-tones’ like ‘chatting, typing or ringing sounds’ when used as a space divider. Water Lilies thus pulls double duty – keeping acoustics balanced throughout the floorplate whilst providing calming visual privacy.  

Water Lilies brings a ‘sense of nature’, Victor said. The pattern feels ‘familiar’, though its visual reference to nature is subtle and understated. The subtlety creates a serene, calming atmosphere at the border it defines between spaces. The gentleness of the concept allows people to have their own interpretations.  

From the four finalists, Victor chose Water Lilies as the winner of a Haworth Design Award.

‘Haworth is continuing constantly to deep dive into this topic of neurodiversity,’ Victor said. With an ‘infinite variety of brains, there is no right or wrong answer… what makes sense for some may not make sense for others. And so we need to provide a large variety of solutions because you have an infinite possibility of neurodivergence.’

‘The only way to respond to it all is to provide variety,’ Victor said.

When asked about what the future holds, Victor wants to ‘keep engaging with the design school, that’s for sure… there is a lot of creativity over there. We have the experience and the knowledge to guide those future designers and give them feedback from the field.’

Our future is neurodiverse. Breaking Barriers set out to show the future of inclusive design – and based on the calibre of student projects, the future looks bright indeed.

Chelsea College of Arts shares Victor’s sentiments. ‘This collaboration with Haworth is enormously valuable to our students, providing them with a platform to expand their research and respond to real-world situations,’ said Fabiane Lee-Perrella, 2nd Year Leader and Senior Lecturer - BA Product & Furniture Design. ‘It aligns perfectly with the ethos of our BA Product and Furniture Design course at Chelsea College of Arts, which emphasises grounding students in practical experiences and fostering an environment where they can design to meet genuine needs.’

Collaborations like Breaking Barriers are important steps toward greater inclusivity in shared spaces. ‘The project's aim of creating an inclusive workspace for a neurodivergent workforce allies with our vision of the future direction of design,’ Fabiane said. ‘Through this collaboration, we aspire to help our students position themselves professionally in a more meaningful way.’

Our future is neurodiverse. Breaking Barriers imagined the evolution of inclusive design – and based on the calibre of student projects, tomorrow looks bright indeed.