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…)

Office Design Responds To Need For Flexibility, Communication

March 13th, 2009 in Design    No Comments

Office spaces are becoming more sophisticated and flexible as designers respond to technological advances and changing communication needs. This article sees current trends in office design as reflective of the desire to address a multigenerational workforce with supportive and sustainable design. In the words of one expert, “It not only fosters communication, forms a sense of community, facilitates learning, but most of all it addresses generational gaps.” (more…)

Office Interiors: Getting It Right

October 4th, 2007 in Design    No Comments

Effective office design engenders a sense of well-being among employees and helps to improve their productivity.  This article notes, however, that design alone won’t change workplace culture.  Open-plan layouts with glass walls to ensure visibility may benefit communication and collaboration but may also contribute to anxiety and the feeling of a lack of privacy.

The author insists that it is the designer’s task to manage the process and get the balance right.  More often than not it is the softer elements of design – color, humor, relaxation – that helps to achieve this.  Readers are provided examples where color, texture and workspace ambience are used to effectively achieve design objectives that improve employee sense of belonging, promote strategic thinking, and engender impressive productivity gains.

Source: Design Week; Oct 4, 2007