ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Built Environ.
Sec. Indoor Environment
Evaluating Workplace Performance: A Post-Occupancy Study of Office Buildings in Saudi Arabia
Provisionally accepted
- 1Architectural Department, College of Engineering and Information Technology, Onaizah Colleges, Qassim, Saudi Arabia, Qassim, Saudi Arabia
- 2Interior Design department- college of Engineering and Design- Kingdom University, Manama, Bahrain, Manama, Bahrain
- 3Architectural Engineering and Construction Management Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
- 4Interdisciplinary Research Canter for Smart Mobility and Logistics, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia., Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
- 5Department of Architecture, The Higher Institute for Engineering and Technology, Obour City - K21 Cairo/Bilbies, Egypt, cairo, Egypt
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Open-plan office environments are widely adopted in contemporary workplace design due to their perceived ability to enhance collaboration, flexibility, and space efficiency. Despite these advantages, growing evidence suggests that such environments may negatively affect employees' comfort, privacy, and overall performance, particularly within educational institutions. This study evaluates the performance of open-plan office workplaces and examines how effectively they support employees' productivity, comfort, and satisfaction in a Saudi Arabian context. A post-occupancy evaluation (POE) approach was employed using a mixed-methods research design. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire survey, semi-structured interviews with permanent occupants, and systematic walkthrough inspections. Based on an extensive review of previous research, a multicriteria performance framework comprising 39 technical, functional, and behavioral performance elements was developed and applied to a case study of open-plan offices at Onaizah Colleges, Saudi Arabia. The results indicate that occupants were generally satisfied with thermal comfort, visual comfort, office layout, workplace circulation, and opportunities for collaboration. However, notable dissatisfaction was reported with respect to acoustic comfort, privacy, and the adequacy of workplace equipment, which were found to adversely affect concentration, autonomy, and perceived productivity. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by providing an integrated, user-centered POE framework for evaluating open-plan office environments in educational buildings. The findings offer evidence-based insights that can support architects, designers, and facility managers in improving workplace performance and guiding future design and operational decisions in similar institutional contexts.
Keywords: functional, Office buildings, Performance elements, POE, productivity, Technical
Received: 30 Oct 2025; Accepted: 07 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Baharetha, Alhoutary, Hassanain, Ali and Ezz. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Mohamed Salah Ezz
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