Orfield Laboratories uses the term Architectural Dynamics™ to describe its approach to designing temporally dynamic interior environments: spaces where daylighting, lighting, acoustics, thermal conditions, and other sensory stimuli shift and respond over time, much as they do outdoors.

Traditional interiors are static. Light levels, sound, and temperature remain largely fixed throughout the day. Outdoor environments, by contrast, are in constant flux, and that variability is strongly preferred by the people who experience it. Architectural Dynamics™ brings that same responsive quality indoors, treating a building’s sensory conditions as programmable rather than fixed.

This approach is used to elevate environmental quality broadly, and has specific applications in:

• Supporting alertness during late-shift work

• Promoting occupant safety and vigilance

• Increasing dwell time for retail and hospitality environments

• Reducing stress among employee populations

• Improving retention in high-turnover environments such as call centers