When Cisco employees arrive at work in London, their first task is finding a place to sit.
Their challenge is not a crowded hot-desking set-up, but too much choice. From cafe-style workspaces to small meeting booths and quiet rows of tables, the tech company’s recently refurbished office makes a point of offering a variety of settings to cater to the needs of neurodiverse staff.
It is one of several employers redesigning offices for the different ways its staff may want to work. It is estimated that one in seven people is neurodivergent, yet offices tend to be designed with neurotypicals in mind.
That can lead to problems: people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), for example, may find it harder to concentrate in open-plan spaces, while those with autism may need greater control over conditions.
READ MORE
Cisco gives staff options, says vice-president for workplace resources, Christian Bigsby. They can choose between high and low stimulation zones, with control over factors such as light, ventilation and temperature.
Neuroinclusivity, he says, is not just about supporting staff with ADHD or autism, but recognising that all employees do better when they can choose a workspace that suits their needs and mood.
Kay Sargent, director of thought leadership at design firm HOK, says this is a trend.
“It’s not just people who are neurodivergent,” she says. “Every single one of us is affected by this.”
More employers are also recognising that supporting staff means creating “environments that have layers and tiers” and giving “choice and variety” to employees.
“I cannot design a space that is the perfect temperature for everyone,” Sargent says. “But the sun moves and so should we. In any given building at any given time, there are warmer areas and cooler areas, there are louder areas and quieter areas.”
HOK clients using neurodiverse design include engineering company Arup, which in its Birmingham office has adjustable lighting and rooms devoted to recreational activities.
Advertising group WPP offers staff workbenches, huddle areas and focus rooms in its Manhattan campus, with lockers so they can choose where to work each day.
At Cisco’s London office, an interactive map displays information about each room’s capacity and facilities, with both in-joke names used by staff and ordered room numbers to avoid confusion.
The entrance area is busy, with coffee stations, plants and screens for group meetings, but the “very communal, very public space” evolves into a network of less stimulating areas, Bigsby says. “As you move through, it gets more private and secluded.”
He describes rooms and corners as “escape hatches” for those who need to take a break, a call or time to focus.
A wellness room a few steps away from the entrance has mood lighting, a comfortable chair, puzzles and blankets. “You have to have quick access, you can step into these rooms in no time at all,” he says.
The most secluded area, with space for a dozen or more people, feels like a library, with soft lighting and high-spec diffusers. “You can eat a tuna sandwich at one table and not be able to smell it at the next,” Bigsby says. But elsewhere desks are located near thoroughfares, so staff can collaborate.
Bigsby says he often works at what he calls an “interruptible table”, where staff can approach him. Around a corner, an area with foosball tables can get noisy, but because of smart soundproofing “the sound of the game is not much more than a footstep on the floor”.
Edina Da’Silva, chief executive at neurodiversity consultancy Neurospecial, says this integration of formats is relatively new. In the past, devoted sensory or quiet rooms might have been in obscure locations, which made staff self-conscious and reluctant to use them.
Incorporating neurodiverse ways of working from the start means specialised spaces are not taboo and all staff get to benefit from options of where to work, she says. “Adaptations are necessary for some, but benefit all,” she says. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
