10 years of change
Over the last 10 years there have been huge changes in the commercial interiors market – some driven by influences from the US, some by the rising cost of office accommodation and others through innovative new design ideas or technological advances. In the case of the environment – a hot topic that shows no signs of dropping off the radar – pressure from the government, legislation and the need for the industry to be accountable for its impacts will ensure a constantly evolving blueprint for the future.
Latest trends / requirements in office design?
Front of house space. With the current trend for open plan, occupiers no longer have the option of taking a client into their own office for an informal meeting. A meeting room can seem too formal and pulling up a chair to a shared desk isn’t sufficient so front of house break out, reception, client and refreshment areas are increasingly important. (A project Overbury completed for Deloitte is a good example of this and we can send details).
Another emerging trend is the development of storage design. The emergence of open plan, hot-desking and clean desk policies, has led to a new approach to storage in order to provide staff with secure personal space. Historically, lockers have been fairly standard but now they are more sophisticated in design and can be a real design feature. They can also be used to break up space and create departmental divisions.
Green or sustainable design is also becoming more and more important prevalent with more effort being made to re-use existing materials, installation of intelligent lighting systems and floor plans being designed to incorporate central recycling points. The specification of materials to be used in the design has also seen considerable change with use of FSC approved timber or sustainable materials like sheep’s wool instead of rock wool for insulation becoming the norm.
The change to open plan and innovations that help tackle the challenges
10 years ago it was the norm for commercial offices to be configured in a mainly cellular layout but the rising cost of office space (particularly in London) has forced companies to look at a more effective use of space and open plan was an obvious solution. Initially this move was only taken on board by the brave on any large scale (BT is a good example of this back in the mid to late 1990’s), the media industry, some financial institutions and some US-owned companies to whom it was not such a new idea.
There is certainly a trend towards open plan office working, perhaps because of the obvious benefits it can provide in terms of improved communication, better information exchange, greater creativity and sharing of ideas. It also promotes an open, team-working office culture where junior and senior staff work side by side and senior managers are accessible to their teams.
The key issues with open plan are generally: noise levels and information confidentiality but there are ways to overcome these challenges. Providing a mixture of open plan and meeting rooms allows staff to book a quiet space if they need to be closeted away to concentrate. ‘White noise’ sound masking systems can be installed and partitioning or storage walling can be used to create sectioned-off areas. (we have examples of this and can provide pics – RPC law firm in London)
The most important thing to remember is to tailor the workspace to the occupier’s particular needs. Each tenant will have different requirements and company cultures so the final design should reflect all of these elements and provide a flexible, practical solution.
Hot desking - have the benefits proved to be a delusion?
Every office occupier will always have transient/nomadic employees who are not always office-based or split their responsibilities between more than one location and are happy to just have a touch down point.
Where hot-desking fails is when it is applied to large portions of staff as a norm. Most office-based staff like to have their own unique personal space and want their desk to be comfortable and familiar. The logistics in terms of telephone extensions, finding people and the day-to-day functionality of the office make this broad brush approach problematic too.
Good office design and the improvement in performance
Individual feedback from clients/staff surveys supports this statement and in terms of professional research, much has been reported on the effects of Sick Building Syndrome (SBS). This points to how poorly-designed buildings with poor light, reflective desk surfaces that cause glare and consequently headaches, fumes from photocopiers and toxins and chemicals from carpet glue etc, can have a negative impact on productivity (detailed notes on this are available).
Break-out rooms, ‘mind gyms’, standing only meeting rooms - are they all hype or can their benefits be proven?
Integral space/breakout space/soft seating areas are absolutely necessary as open plan offices can’t work without these features.
A recently completed job for architects Sheppard Robson is mainly open plan but at the end of each bank of desks a break-out space has been introduced where project teams can get together. This is more conducive to team communication than the ‘Meerkat Syndrome’ which sees various heads appearing over lower level partitions and shouting ideas.
In addition, white boards cover the entire wall next to the break out space so the teams can pin up drawings and work and add revisions and ideas. Not only is this good internally, but it also acts as a showcase of the company’s work for visiting clients. It creates a gallery backdrop for Sheppard Robson’s work so clients notice the company’s design capabilities rather than the design of the building.
