Abstract
Indoor air quality is typically evaluated at building or room level, although occupants in shared interiors can differ in local exposure, susceptibility, access to accommodation, and practical control. This article develops the Interior Design Divergence Framework, a nonempirical configurational theory explaining how spatial and material decisions distribute air-related advantages and disadvantages among occupants. Eight thematic search streams informed critical framework comparison, conceptual coding, construct differentiation, proposition development, and application to four published studies. The framework defines spatial-exposure divergence, susceptibility-accommodation divergence, and environmental-control-access divergence. Six propositions specify how layout, partitions, source placement, materials, ventilation components, spatial alternatives, and control arrangements create or moderate these divergences. The framework proposes that similar complaints may reflect different mechanisms and require different design responses. The four studies illustrate selected components and evidence gaps rather than directly demonstrate this relationship. The contribution is not the general claim that occupants differ, but a theory explaining how three distinct divergences interact as consequences of interior design and how each configuration implies a mechanism-specific response. The framework remains unvalidated and requires future testing through workstation-level measurements, occupant-level assessment, and comparative design interventions.