Abstract/Summary

The confluence of technological advances, climate mitigation efforts, and evolving user expectations has significantly transformed how the built environment is conceptualised, designed, and delivered; Intelligent Buildings (IBs) are not an exception. The systematic literature review revealed that there have been limited studies exploring the perspectives of Building Environment (BE) professionals on IBs, along with divergent emerging descriptions of IBs, creating an ambiguity for their practical realization. To address this gap, this study aims to explore the intelligence in office buildings based on professionals’ interpretations and its practical implementation through design features. An exploratory study was carried out by conducting semi-structured interviews with 63 domain professionals, and qualitative content analysis was utilised to identify emerging themes during the interviews. Nine themes were identified for describing Intelligent Office Buildings (IOBs). Professionals' perceptions were found to vary according to their nationality and profession. The original contribution of this study is that by reflecting the perspectives of building environment professionals worldwide through interviews and revisiting the existing debates in the literature, the current IOB design approach is delineated. The core IOB concept evolves around the occupant-oriented approach and the integration of climate-responsive design strategies with a balanced level of technology uniquely serving a well-defined purpose by taking advantage of regional conditions. Research findings have theoretical contributions by unravelling the IOB concept and design features, shedding light on the dual roles of technology and design principles. These findings on guiding principles for the design of IOBs can provide a valuable framework for BE practitioners.