How to Frame Universal Workspace Lighting

In 2012 the headquarters for the umbrella organisation ‘Disabled people’s organisation Denmark’ opened, an office building that offers workspace for the administrations of all the member organisations. The ambition for the building was to be the most accessible office building in the world; regardless of disability everybody should be able to move around in the house and work in any of the offices. One, of many ambitions, was to design a functional and effective lighting scheme using as much daylight as possible, and integrating the artificial lighting design and daylight design. The lighting was intended to support all work stations in both one-man offices and open-plan offices with a functional and comfortable visual environment, fit for all users, regardless of disability. Based on a post occupancy evaluation conducted 2 years after the organisations moved in, the present paper evaluates the lighting design in the offices. It reveals that not all the people working in the offices have the same needs and preferences of lighting conditions; these differ even among users with the same disability. Accordingly the findings lead to a discussion on how to understand the concept of Universal Design. Based on the lighting theory of Peter Boyce, the paper discusses the idea of encompassing everyone in the same solution.