Pattern 4: Work Station Partitions

The selection and design of open office furniture, especially workstation partitions, requires care to ensure the preservation of daylight and views. Even in the most carefully considered daylighting schemes, effective workstation design can be the difference between realizing daylighting goals and unintentionally compromising design intentions. In side lit spaces, office partitions must be kept low (42” or less) and unobtrusive parallel to the direction of the daylight distribution and to ensure the maintenance of views to the exterior. Where higher partitions (48” or greater) are required for privacy or to create a sense of enclosure, they should be oriented perpendicular to the perimeter glazing. 60” (or greater) partitions that are perpendicular to the direction of daylight distribution can enable privacy and allow for ample storage without blocking views and creating dark shadows. Additionally it is critical that the partition finishes be light reflective, especially where they occur above 42”.

Workstations should be designed so that the primary visual field (the direction that most occupants face while performing visual tasks) is parallel to daylight openings wherever possible. This helps avoid visual discomfort from building users looking into their own shadow, or worse, from the excessive contrast that can occur when a visual task area (commonly a computer screen) is immediately surrounded by the brightness of a view to the exterior.

Often daylighting design decisions are made in early schematic design, prior to the specification of workstation layout and configurations. However, it is crucial to ensure that daylight distribution patterns are not compromised by selecting panel sizes, orientations, and reflectances that substantially hinder daylight performance. An interior office workstation layout that is carefully integrated with the daylighting design intent is critical to realizing the highest quality interior environment and delivering maximum lighting power savings from daylight.

The case study patterns are based on the Banner Bank Building in Boise, ID. It includes a 40% window to exterior wall ratio with a window head height at 9’-6”, a sill height at 3’-0” and a ceiling height at 10’-0”. Interior reflectances are roughly 80-50-20 for ceiling, walls, and floors, respectively.