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 Interviews    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…)