Neurodiversity is becoming a more familiar part of workplace design briefs, but it is not always easy to know what good practice looks like in reality
For architects and designers, the challenge is often less about intent and more about application: how to make choices that feel thoughtful, useful and grounded in the way people actually experience space, while recognising that this is still an emerging area of design practice.
That gap came through clearly in recent research by Crown Paints.
Of the architects and specifiers surveyed, 62% said neurodiversity is now being referenced more often in tenders, while 79% felt their practice was not yet confident designing for neurodivergent needs.
It points to an industry that is interested, engaged and still looking for practical support.
This is partly because neuroinclusive design does not lend itself to neat rules.
Colour, light, sound and movement are experienced differently from person to person.
A space that supports focus for one user may feel under-stimulating to another; a scheme intended to feel energising can quickly become tiring if it is not considered as part of the wider environment.
Crown’s work with the design community has long centred on helping teams use colour with more confidence and purpose.
In neuroinclusive design, that expertise becomes especially valuable.
Colour can help people read a space, move through it more easily or identify places to pause.
It can also make a setting feel more balanced when it is used alongside careful decisions about light, acoustics and layout.
The aim is not to design for a single idea of neurodivergence.
It is to create workplaces with enough variation and clarity for more people to use them comfortably.
That might mean thinking differently about transition spaces, quiet areas, circulation routes or the way colour helps define different types of activity.
Developed by neuroinclusive design specialist Dr Katie Gaudion in collaboration with Crown Paints, the Neuroinclusive Design Programme supports that kind of thinking for architects, interior designers and specifiers.
Dr Gaudion leads the programme alongside Crown’s expert consultants, which gives design teams time to explore live challenges and consider how sensory-led thinking can be built into a project from the earliest stages.
Rather than offering fixed answers, the sessions are practical, collaborative and grounded in the realities of design practice.
For teams already seeing neurodiversity appear in briefs, the programme offers a useful way to build confidence, ask better questions and bring more depth to client conversations.
Crown is now inviting architects and designers to register their interest in upcoming cohorts.
To find out more, visit Crown Paints website here.
