The business case for neuroinclusive design is proven and the human stories are compelling. But neither matters unless organizations can convert these insights into practice.

This chapter distills the research and methods in HOK’s Designing Neuroinclusive Workplaces into a framework for turning any office into a place where every mind can thrive. It shows how to move beyond basic accessibility to create truly inclusive environments that remove both physical and cognitive barriers. It’s a preview of how to do this, not the full playbook.

Neuroaesthetics, the science of how the brain responds to environmental stimuli, explains why one space soothes individuals while another exhausts. Anjan Chatterjee’s Neuro-Architecture Triad—coherence (legibility), fascination (richness) and homeyness (comfort)—shows that our brains crave order, the right level of stimulus and a sense of belonging. When any of those three are missing, cognitive load rises and performance drops. ​

While neuroinclusive design considers the full sensory spectrum, Sargent’s book emphasizes several core environmental factors that significantly influence comfort and performance. Among these, key drivers are:

1. Acoustic: Provide varied acoustic levels in distinct zones to support diverse activities.
2. Visual: Balance non-stimulating color schemes with areas of higher stimulation to offer varied sensory experiences.
3. Air Quality: Integrate proper ventilation systems with filtered outside-air delivery and low volatile-organic compounds to optimize cognitive function.
4. Movement: Design walkable layouts and flexible workstations that encourage postural changes and movement-based activities throughout the day.
5. Lighting: Layer daylight with tunable LEDs to support circadian rhythms, incorporating glare control and flicker-free fixtures for user comfort.
6. Thermal: Create office layouts that provide individuals with options to choose locations that suit their thermal comfort range.

HOK’s tiered approach to designing for neuroinclusion involves several key components applied systematically. Key steps in our repeatable approach include:

• Understand the organization’s unique DNA: Industry, region, demographics, culture, organizational structure and individual work styles all influence and help to define the appropriate solution that is suited to your specific needs.
• Define personas and work settings: Personas capture mobility, interaction, privacy and complexity needs of various worker profiles. Matching their specific needs to the right solution within a menu of settings creates tailored solutions and gives people real agency and control.
• Plan for the Six Modalities of Work: Provide spaces that foster the six types of work we do in shared spaces—Concentrate, Contemplate, Commune, Create, Congregate and Convivial. Each requires purpose-built space, intentionally designed to accommodate various sensory needs. (See above image.)
• Sequence and zone spaces: Loud-to-quiet, open-to-sheltered gradients let users predict sensory load before they enter. Transition zones help them recalibrate as they move throughout the environment.
• Map the daily journey: Day-in-the-life scenarios help individuals understand how they can successfully navigate the space and avoid problem areas like glare-filled lobbies or echoing corridors, enabling targeted rather than blanket solutions.

HOK’s approach to neuroinclusive design feeds data back into the understanding of organizational DNA, allowing for iterative refinements over time.

Here are five concrete steps that are among the tactics the book highlights as delivering a meaningful return for relatively modest effort:

1. Layered lighting. Combine generous daylight, glare control and user-tunable LED task lights. Flicker-free drivers protect hypersensitive users and circadian-support spectra enhance focus or calm as needed. ​
2. Calibrated acoustics. Use absorptive finishes and sound-masking and give employees permission to use noise-canceling headsets. A steady “rain-shower” hum is preferable to sporadic peaks that feel like “raindrops.”
3. Intuitive circulation. Provide clear sightlines, short corridors with alcoves, alternate low-traffic routes and material or ceiling shifts that cue movement between loud and quiet zones.
4. Supportive furniture. Mix sit-stand desks, deep-pressure lounge pods, perch stools, rocking seats, adjustable monitor arms and discreet storage to tame visual clutter while encouraging healthy movement. ​
5. Integrated biophilia. Combine natural elements like plants, water sound and daylight with symbolic references such as fractals, wood grain and leaf patterns. This reduces stress hormones and helps people focus. ​

Though many organizations ask for a single “sensory room,” experience shows that one enclosed space rarely satisfies the wide range of sensory needs. HOK instead recommends a tiered strategy:

1. Communicate before arrival. Share floor plans, photos or short fly-through videos so guests and employees can preview the journey and reduce anxiety.
2. Streamline the pinch points. Reduce glare, noise and queue complexity at entry, security and reception so stress doesn’t build before people reach their destination.
3. Provide a spectrum of zones.

1. • Low-stimulus areas with dimmable light, acoustic felt and weighted blankets for down-regulation
   • Calibrated zones with neutral palettes and gentle movement options for everyday regrouping
   • Active zones with interactive walls, rocking stools and brighter colors so hyposensitive users can dial up stimulation instead of withdrawing

Sequencing options in this way moves the workplace from a “retreat room” model to an ecosystem that lets every employee self-regulate in real time.

Organizations that adopt neuroinclusive design see a variety of benefits converge. Here are three that organizations are striving to address:

1. Retention improves as programs built around supportive space hold on to talent at rates well above industry norms.
2. Performance climbs as diverse-cognition teams working in the right settings perform more work with fewer errors, creating significant productivity gains.
3. Engagement deepens as employees report lower stress and more enthusiasm when they can calibrate their sensory environment.

Designing Neuroinclusive Workplaces provides access via a QR code to HOK’s comprehensive Design Considerations checklist, which is structured to evolve as new insights and research deepen our understanding of best practices. Arranged by headline categories—Operations, Access & Entry, Planning Concepts, Circulation, Furniture, Signage & Wayfinding—and 11 focused design-element sections covering color, lighting, acoustics, biophilia, air quality and more, the list serves as a practical audit tool for organizations looking to build an incremental action plan toward full inclusion.

For the complete framework and implementation roadmap, see Designing Neuroinclusive Workplaces (Wiley, 2025).