Concurrents – Environmental Psychology: Careful with Couches

by Sally Augustin, Ph.D. | February 4th, 2019

Workplace couches have been getting a lot of attention. The office sofas suggested for break areas, conference zones, and elsewhere, and on display in one showroom and magazine spread after another, cover the full range of options that can even be imagined, from extremely restrained to effervescently rich. There is clearly a sofa for every aesthetic and site. Sofas can be great additions to workplaces, but it’s important that their use be carefully considered. Research supplies several reasons for using sofas in workspaces. For example, people seem to think more creatively when reclined, and we also get along better with others when stretched out. Couches also send the mental message of “home,” which is often mandated in the design brief. There are practical reasons to bring in sofas. They can be places for people in the office all night to take a nap and with certain user personality profiles, they …