Spatial configuration and perceived privacy in open-plan offices: a case study in Oran, Algeria

Open-plan office research has paid considerable attention to physical comfort, interaction, and collaboration. Far less is known about how spatial configuration affects privacy in specific cultural settings. This study addresses that question through a case study of an Algerian company in Oran, where a layout developed by a foreign partner was later altered by local management. The research used a quantitative correlational design. A Building-In-Use (BIU)-based questionnaire was completed by 109 employees across 14 offices, and the same spaces were analysed using the space syntax measures of integration, control, entropy, and choice. Spearman's coefficients showed negative associations between privacy satisfaction and integration, control, and choice, but a positive association with entropy (r = 0.722, p < 0.001). A descriptive comparison of one office in its original and modified forms found a lower maximum integration value and a slightly higher maximum entropy value after modification. In this case, more differentiated layouts with less exposure were associated with better perceived privacy. Our contribution integrates a sociocultural perspective on user privacy into the space syntax analysis of Algerian open-plan offices. The results remain specific to one company, and the concentration of users within the same offices limits both generalisation and causal claims.