Interaction launches free resource to help UK offices design for an ageing workforce
B Corp-certified workplace design and build company Interaction has published a free accessible fit-out checklist for landlords and employers.
The Bath-based company believes that UK office design has a significant blind spot when it comes to an ageing workforce. The checklist covering door hardware, meeting room technology, lighting and wayfinding, and temperature management responds to what Interaction says is a widening gap between the design industry’s confident language on neuro-inclusive workplaces and the everyday physical barriers facing older and disabled staff.
People aged 50 and over make up nearly a third of the UK workforce, according to research from the Centre for Ageing Better.
The State Pension age is also increasing from 66 to 67 between April 2026 and April 2028, and according to the Department for Work and Pensions, the average age of exit from the labour market reached 65.8 for men and 65.1 for women in 2026.
The checklist sets out practical guidance developed from Interaction’s own project experience, covering door and hardware specification for reduced grip strength and dexterity, hearing loop and captioning provision for meeting rooms, and lighting and signage contrast standards for ageing eyesight.
The checklist also covers environmental controls to support menopause-related needs, and guidance on introducing new technology and supporting staff to use it.
Sarah Pasquall, Creative Lead at Interaction, said, “Many modern workplaces have neuro-inclusive breakout spaces, and rightly so: that work matters. But almost none of them mention that a cold metal door handle is genuinely painful if you have arthritis, or that modern meeting rooms can be unusable for someone with a hearing aid.
“Some areas of inclusive design have really improved, but this isn’t one of them. We should be doing more to design workspaces that support a body that changes over a 30-year career.”
