Pre-press article
Visual Aesthetic Quality Assessment (VAQA) with Photo Sampling Method for Healing Garden in Office Environments
https://doi.org/10.47836/pjssh.34.4.07KeywordsHealing gardens, nature-based features, office environments, photo sampling method, soft fascination, Visual Aesthetic Quality Assessment (VAQA)
Article content
Abstract
Growing mental fatigue among adults has increased the need for restorative office environments. However, limited research has examined the visual aesthetics of nature-based features integrated with healing gardens across various spatial categories. The Visual Aesthetic Quality Assessment (VAQA), using photo sampling, aims to systematically document seamless spatial integration with healing gardens in Malaysian offices. Two offices in Peninsular Malaysia were selected based on four predefined criteria. Data collection involved case selection, on-site observations, and environmental evaluation. Observations occurred from 24th March to 2nd April 2025, with photographic inventories on 17-18 April 2025 for Office Setting 1 and on 25 April 2025 for Office Setting 2. Grounded in a unified psychological framework integrating Attention Restoration Theory (ART), Stress Reduction Theory (SRT), and the Perceived Restorativeness Scale (PRS), VAQA required nature-based features, integrated with healing gardens, across outdoor, semi-outdoor, and indoor spaces, because restorative experiences depend on visual and physical connections to nature. Eight restorative scenes were selected by experts to represent the eight visual descriptor variables: being away, fascination, coherence, compatibility, sense of control, social support, physical movement, and natural engagement. The findings revealed strong visual restoration qualities and improved understanding of human-environment interaction via photographs. Features like visibility, accessibility, proximity, layered vegetation, openness, and seamless indoor, semi-outdoor, and outdoor integration with healing gardens support attentional and emotional restoration. This study advances knowledge by offering a systematic VAQA with a photo sampling method, based on an integrated psychological framework, to document and evaluate restorative visual environments in offices, improving research methods.
