"As work becomes more mobile, office designs change and buildings adapt" by Kristen Leigh Painter Star Tribune

"...Offices are smaller and more open, so employees can roam around but remain engaged. Time for personal matters is provided without question, as bosses realize their colleagues also work at home during times when they feel they can be productive."

“Space is a tool. And people, your most expensive asset, are a tool that need to work well,” said Janet Pogue McLaurin, principal at the architectural firm Gensler. “So you want to create a work environment where people work their best”

Technology shapes space

For decades, the “open” concept in offices meant warrens of cubicles that came to symbolize employee disposability and uniformity. Now, cubicles aren’t entirely gone, but they are designed with lower walls and broken up by common areas for small gatherings and even rooms when someone needs more privacy.

A big difference is in office technology. Computers have shrunk — from mainframes to desktops to laptops to phones. This means workers can do more with less space, reducing the total square footage required for a company to do business. And with wireless Internet now an office mainstay, workers are no longer tied to a static location...

Read the entire article here!

This interesting article has many fascination  points on the history of office design, but it is no surprise that they state the number one driver for current office design is: technology. Past office design revolved around workers sitting at desks with pens and paper -- today's work space should look and feel very different.   Read the whole article here.

"....Office designers have been trying to adapt offices for decades to better suit the nature of work, as well as meet company demands for cost-cutting and integrating new technology. Over the 20th century, the most popular office design has evolved from rows of offices with doors, to an open plan designed to facilitate collaboration, to the cubicle, back to an open office plan, and now to more mixed-used spaces."

"......The way we think about working has had a huge influence on office design: Whether companies are trying to encourage collaboration, preserve employee privacy, or reward their upper-level managers. But there are other factors that have guided the shifts in office design – namely, technological development and cost concerns."

".....
The primary issue with open office plans is that there are so many visual and audio distractions that can interrupt worker focus. In a study of 90,000 people from 155 companies, Gensler found that individual focus was the most important factor in an employee’s effectiveness in the workplace. The company also found that focus was the activity least effectively supported by current office design."

Another great article on the importance of a well executed office work space from Lydia Dishman @ Fast Company. My favorite remarks below -- for the full article, click here!

".....Workspaces should flex to provide a variety of spaces and destinations for workers to inhabit that promote movement throughout the day," said Blumenfeld in a statement. "While many companies are doing a good job of incorporating some of these elements into their workplace design, there’s a need for more awareness and implementation of this way of thinking holistically about the workplace. Ethonomicsillustrates that it’s the incorporation of a number of these key elements and initiatives at all scales that will provide an architecture for workplace happiness."

More attention needs to be placed on remedies for the preponderance of technology and the unintentional loss of productivity brought on by vast open offices or warrens of cubicles washed in a coat of gray or beige paint and illuminated by fluorescent bulbs."


"....Alert, engaged, and healthy workers are most often those who are afforded a stimulating and inspiring work environment that encourages movement—to sit, stand and walk around," they write. "We are more alert after taking a walk with a coworker or friend—and perhaps having an insightful conversation. And that feeling of well-being is likely to affect the way we interact with others—less negative feelings and fewer expressions of anger, irritation, or resentment."

So much of what we do everyday for our clients, whether we realized it or not,  follows the principles of "ethonomics".  Helping our clients design an effective workspace is a multi-layered process that interconnects to their health and emotional well being.  Teknion's new upStage product line was designed using the priciples of Ethonomics. To read the entire article by Teknion, click here.

".....We are beginning to see a cultural shift—a new awareness of how deeply human and environmental health are connected. If we begin with a discussion of the lifestyle choices we make as individuals, we must consider three key features of the cultural landscape that influence our behaviors, our health and that of the natural world. These are technology,food and the urban environment.

Technology 

In terms of human health, we see that technology (i.e.,communications technology and in particular, mobile, high-tech gadgets), has engineered physical activity out of daily life. The result is a sedentary population with a high incidence of obesity and diseases related to lack of exercise.

Food

While healthy and affordable food is readily available to most people in North America, many forego a healthy diet and daily consume high-calorie processed foods that contribute to disease. At the same time, research reveals a significant trend toward selecting organic, locally produced ingredients and prepared foods—a shift that can have a positive effect on human health and the natural environment....."

".....The office is a place for creativity and collaboration, requiring spaces that support fluid and spontaneous interactions—but also quiet spaces that minimize noise and the potential for disruption when thinking, analyzing, writing and reading. People need a place to withdraw from the flow of activity and also want to control noise, especially related to what others can hear them say and what they hear other people say.

Creating workspaces that are inviting, comfortable and uplifting depends upon a skillful combination of materials, textures, patterns and colors. It is essential to choose materials that do not contain toxins or emit VOCs. Designers also choose materials for their sound-absorbing value, pleasing tactile qualities and the visual richness of color, pattern and texture. Beyond aesthetics, varied sensory stimulation can engage and energize people at work."