Beyond The Cube

June 7th, 2010 in Trends    No Comments

Beyond the cube, workplace design now embraces such lofty concepts as enhancing communication, facilitating work-in-process, managing technology and providing an up-to-date alternative to “cube life”. Sound too easy? Let’s break it down.

• Planning principals begin with storage and work surfaces, not cubicle panels.
• Natural light is shared and collaboration is enhanced.
• Work in Progress is displayed & organized as the user wants it.
• Wires, cords and connections are smartly managed and easily accessible.

Access to natural light can be increased by lowering panel height. If privacy is then an issue, incorporate translucent privacy screens. (more…)

Does Your Current Workspace Support Your Workers and Their Work?

June 7th, 2010 in Design    No Comments

Gone are the workplace concepts of the 1970’s. Floor plan designs created isolating and non-stimulating environments. Physical barriers of cubicle design, circulation patterns, and the lack of daylight views for most employees blend together to inhibit collaboration and inspiration.

Teams are therefore slower complete tasks, thus affecting team, and individual results.

Workplaces also must be reinvented to accommodate new technologies, beyond just the impact of wireless technology. New hardware and software is causing workers to think and behave differently, and therefore, accomplish daily tasks in a new way. (more…)

How your work environment keeps pace with your workforce

October 21st, 2009 in Design    1 Comment

When you think of office space, what comes to mind? Perhaps Dilbert and endless rows of cubicles, Milton Waddams and his red Swingline stapler from Office Space, or Dwight Schrute from The Office? While these images may bring a chuckle, the characters have garnered a cult following simply because, WE CAN RELATE.

Perceptions of office space form because of media portrayals and due to daily interaction with our own places of work. The recent meteoric rise of Mad Men on AMC into popular culture reminds us that timeless design is still prized. The cars, wardrobes, immaculate hairstyles and suits represent a time when innovation and design were interchangeable. However, what is our modern interpretation of the office? And what is the tradeoff when low-cost practicality trumps aesthetic and quality? (more…)

ABCs Of Green Acoustics

August 24th, 2009 in Green    2 Comments

Green buildings are getting a lot of attention these days for their environmental and health impacts and long-term cost savings. For all this attention, notes the author, many of these buildings fall short of expectations in their acoustical performance. Part of the problem seems to be that LEED and other rating systems don’t include specific acoustical credits, and designers are simply too caught up in more top of mind considerations to even think about this issue. The good news is that open-plan green workspaces can get the proper acoustics as easy as ABC… (more…)

Spaces For A New Age: Firms Redesign Offices To Suit A Generation Of Collaborators

August 11th, 2009 in Design    No Comments

Office design today is about encouraging the exchange of ideas. In meetings between designers and clients the talk is not about meeting rooms and cubicles but rather “idea generators,” deep thinks and media cafes. As noted by one expert quoted here, “Now design is about combining furniture, space and human behavior to facilitate the transfer of knowledge.” There is less focus on hard-walled offices and more about understanding the synergies of a collaborative office and the multi-tasking, ultra mobile workers who function best in the swirl of activities and conversations. Indeed, one-third or more of floor space is now dedicated to formal and informal collaborative spaces, including meeting rooms, project rooms or other common areas. The new urban worker is said to be a communal spirit who values eye contact, natural light and spontaneous conversations in a cheerful environment.

Denise Deveau.

- National Post (Dawn Mills, Ontario); Jan 14, 2009, pFP11.

An Interview with Ted H Davis, AIA, IIDA

July 25th, 2009 in Designer Forum    No Comments

Architecture has the responsibility to make special places. It should inspire us with an uplifting experience and improve our daily lives. Each design has unique parameters and potentials from which springs a unique solution. Within each is a poetic opportunity to find a character, an essence, or a soul which will lead to a solution that uplifts our spirit.

The hope is that design will create a positive emotional reaction. This requires thought, hard work, luck, passion and risk on the part of the client and the designer. It is easy to do what is the norm, but not so easy to strive for a unique design. So what makes something unique?

If you think about a memorable experience, it most certainly caused a moment of discovery – resulting in seeing the familiar in a new way. (more…)

The new facility that houses ASUs renowned Cronkite School of Journalism incorporates a newsworthy design

July 25th, 2009 in On the Record    No Comments

Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication moved to a new location in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, in August 2008. Target Commercial Interiors is proud to have provided office furnishings and services to Arizona State University.

Read about the project concept, products used, and view photos

You Don’t Have To Be Super Cool To Work Here But

March 15th, 2009 in Design    No Comments

Goodbye Filing Cabinets, Fluorescent Lighting And Water Coolers. Hello Chickens, Vegetable Plots, Helter Skelters And Slides. Office Design Is Changing Fast. Stephen Bayley Looks At The Radical Ideas – Fun But Functional – That Are Reshaping Our Workplaces And How We Work.

This article from the London Observer takes a look at some of the more radical – “fun but functional” – office design ideas that are helping to reshape the workplace. Readers tour Pixar’s animation headquarters with its organic vegetable patch and 600-seat viewing cinema and are then introduced to Copenhagen’s MindLab with its egg-shaped conference room and mood lighting that changes to stimulate unusual thought patterns. (more…)