The Impact of interior layout on human behavior : a study of co-working spaces

Abstract

Coworking is a trending topic in the working world since the new millennium. Its productivity in creative matters is increasing the validity of the subject steadily. At the end of the war, with the bloom of the economy, Sri Lankan coworking got a huge rise in the working community with its IT and tech-based businesses. As it is a new concept to the country, the impact of Sri Lankan culture in adapting to coworking should be examined in future adjustments and growth. Hence, as the first research of the subject area, a broad framework was developed for the use of future researches. The Theory of Proximity and the Five Coworking Core value system paved the ground for the research. The case was elaborated under-identified four parts for the consistency in the rationale which was build up in the process. Since the Theory of Proximity has not studied priorly in Sri Lankan interior design field, it was necessary to study the cultural aspect of the participant coworkers towards the coworking concept, except to analyzing the layout design. Two Colombo-based well-known coworking environments were examined Co-nnect and Likuid Spaces. Also, the results showed both the coworking environment layout arrangements and co-workers’ attitudes should improve in being true to the core values of core working. This research provides a universal framework for future researches in analyzing the adaptability of the coworking concept to any context of the world. Moreover, it sheds light on the Sri Lankan interior designers, business researches and venture capitalists towards new opportunities in business.