06.02.2024
SONATA project to innovatively tackle health in workplaces
The ways we perform work are changing rapidly and in many instances workplace design can have adverse effects on the workers’ health, wellbeing, and social relations. Could adaptive workplace technologies alleviate these health risks by automating a wide range of architectural building services?
In the SONATA project, funded by the EU programme Horizon Europe, we will be looking into just that. On 1 and 2 February 2024, the SONATA consortium met in Leuven for the project’s Kick-Off Meeting, setting the groundwork for the research and innovation work to be carried out over the next four years.
SONATA aims to generate evidence-based recommendations on the use of architectural adaptation as technological interventions in the workplace. This includes measuring the health and well-being benefits of state-of-the-art architectural adaptations, generating empirical knowledge on how these adaptations can be intertwined, and investigating how their positive effects can become equitably negotiated between the varying – and often conflicting – work situations that co-exist in a shared workplace.
16 partner organisations, including research institutions, industry, and stakeholder organisations, bring in expertise in health & wellbeing, architectural technology & design, as well as social sciences & humanities. The consortium is coordinated and orchestrated by KU Leuven, and the project will test and integrate several innovative adaptive technologies, provided and developed by project partners, including electrochromic glass (SageGlass), lighting (Delta Light), acoustic panelling (Rockfon), and robotically moving partitions (KU Leuven).
IRI UL will lead the exploration of the effects of combined adaptive technologies on the social health of office occupants, integrating qualitative research into the project’s people-centred approach, as well as the provide the methodology for SONATA’s co-design process with key stakeholder groups. We are honoured to be able to contribute to this exciting research and innovation action!