C environmental psychologists are increasingly in

C . “Environmental psychologists are increasingly in demand” says David Uzzel, professor of
environmental psychology. “We are asked to contribute to the planning, design, and
management of many different environments ranging from neighborhoods, offices, schools,
health, transport, traffic and leisure environments for the purpose of improving quality of life
and creating better people-environment fit”. Uzzel points to the rebuilding of one south
London school as a striking example of how building design can affect human behavior
positively. Before its redesign, it was ranked as the worst school in the area – now it is
recognized as one of the country‘s twenty most improved schools.
D . Uzzell has been involved in a pioneering project between MSc students in England and
Scotland. Architecture students in Scotland acted as designers while environmental
psychology students in England acted as consultants, as together they worked on a community
project in a run-down area of Glasgow. “The psychology students encouraged the
architecture students to think about who their client group was to consider issues crowding
and social cohesion and they introduced them to psychological methodologies, for example
observation and interviewing residents about their needs”. The collaborative project currently
stands as a one-off experiment. “Hopefully, these trainee architects will now go away with
some understanding of the psychological issues involved in design and will take into account
people’s needs” says Uzzel.
E . Hilary Barker, a recent graduate in psychology, now works for a design consultancy. She is
part of a four-person research team that contributes to the overall work of the company in
helping clients use their office space more productively. Her team all has backgrounds in
psychology or social science but the rest of the firm consists mainly of architects and interior
designers. “What I do is pretty rare to be honest,” Barker says “I feel very privileged to be
able to use my degree in such a way.” Barker explains that the team carries out observational
studies on behalf of companies to identify exactly how occupants are using their building. The
7

companies are often surprised by the findings, for example that staff use meeting room for
quiet, individual work.