In the August 13 electronic edition of the New York Times Jane Margolies reports on the increasing numbers of secret, hidden rooms at workplaces “If Only These Walls (and Bookcases) Could Talk,” NY Times August 13, 2019).
As she details, “Transparency is one of the biggest trends in modern office design: open floor plans, fewer offices, glass walls and doors. And at a time when #MeToo has called attention to the sordid things that can happen behind closed doors, there may be some comfort in having everything, and everyone, within view. But a taste for hidden places still runs deep. They have appeared throughout history, from secret passageways in medieval castles to Prohibition-era speakeasies. Secret rooms are now popping up in workplaces and other commercial settings, providing the thrill of seeing a room materialize unexpectedly, not to mention the appeal of hanging out in a space reserved for V.I.P.s.”
Some of the spaces reported on by Margolies seem to have inconspicuous entrances, not truly hidden ones, but the psychological implications of the spaces is not significantly affected by this difference.
Hidden rooms at workplaces are known to some and not others – it could be that all employees know about a “secret” space but non-employees don’t or that only a select group of employees know that an area exists, for example. The “knowers” own the space via the fact that they are familiar with its existence and access protocols, and this ownership/knowledge is likely to enhance social cohesion among them.
Having a hidden room can be one of the factors that boosts valuable organizational bonds, which, in a positive climate are likely to enhance professional performance. A secret room can’t overcome bad compensation packages or undesirable work processes, however, but the benefits of secret rooms are much like those of team rooms generally, only stronger.
A secret room is also likely to send messages about valuing employees that other workplace amenities can’t. It signals respect for employees and the contributions they make to a firm and distinguishes those who are able to visit it from others. Providing access to a “secret” space also signals that the space owner trusts users. For the spaces profiled, all of which were in the United States, access seems available in a relatively egalitarian way to people who have acted/succeeded in some way valued by space owners, but that might not be the case in other countries, with other sorts of national cultures.
Hidden rooms add something a little different to an office, but are familiar to users because of their presence in children’s stories, spy movies, etc. Our most positive responses are to places that are familiar with a desirable twist, as a pleasant workplace with a well-designed hidden room would be. The messages sent by a hidden room are likely to appeal to most employee groups, in a way that a games room or meditation space might not.
Interestingly, none of the spaces discussed by Margolies were refuges for times of at-work unrest, such as gunmen on the premises. It is possible that these sorts of places were not profiled for security reasons.
A hidden room is like an onsite clubhouse, it makes its users, and potential users, those who have in some way earned access to it, feel that they are members of a valued group, and that has desirable organizational implications.
Sally Augustin, PhD, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com). Research Design Connections reports on research conducted by social and physical scientists that designers can apply in practice. Insights derived from recent studies are integrated with classic, still relevant findings in concise, powerful articles. Topics covered range from the cognitive, emotional, and physiological implications of sensory and other physical experiences to the alignment of culture, personality, and design, among others. Information, in everyday language, is shared in a monthly subscription newsletter, an archive of thousands of published articles, and a free daily blog. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.