Space Exploration

Driven by economic pressures, advances in technology and changing work styles, organisations seem to have renewed their interest in new ways of working, wanting to create more efficient, flexible and dynamic work environments. This time it is not only IT or consultancy organisations, but a wide diversity of companies in the private, public and education sector. New office concepts seem, at last, to catch on and become mainstream phenomena.

As before, this renewed interest comes with exotic buzzwords, abstract concepts and rather extravagant claims for how office concepts will improve business performance.

Strategic objectives

At the start of any office design project it is important to raise a very basic question: What are we aiming to achieve with (re)development of a new work environment? Although many projects are initiated for practical reasons such as the lack of space or an outdated and worn interior, it is important to recognise and acknowledge the strategic potential of the physical work environment.

Obviously the main purpose of an office or work environment is to support its occupants in performing their tasks and activities — preferably at minimum cost and to maximum satisfaction. Alongside this functional purpose, however, office buildings have an important social and symbolic function.

The design and layout of spaces can, for example, encourage interaction or stimulate creativity. Furthermore, the physical office can convey a strong cultural message to employees and visitors about the organisations identity or brand. In general, we distinguish nine objectives often associated with new office concepts:

• Enhance productivity
  What enhances productivity and how can office design contribute?
• Reduce costs
  What is the need for cost reduction and how can space per full time earner (FTE) be optimised?
• Increase flexibility
  What flexibility is required and how can zoning and partitioning help?
• Encourage interaction
  What stimulates interaction and how can layouts contribute?
• Support cultural change
  To what culture do we aspire and how can office design express this culture?
• Stimulate creativity
  What encourages creativity and how can layout and design contribute?
• Attract and retain staff
  What do employees value and how can work environments chip in?
• Express the brand
  What is our brand and how can office design convey this message?
• Be sustainable
  How can design and fit-out help to reduce environmental impact?

For those involved in office design, these objectives will sound very familiar if not clichd. The true art of a successful (re)development project, however, is to go beyond the clichs and to carefully specify each objective, clearly indicating the project-specific meaning of words like ‘productive or ‘flexible. After all, everybody wants an office that is productive, efficient, flexible and sustainable.

Furthermore, it is important to note that many of the objectives distinguished are closely related to one another, but that some of them can also be conflicting. For example, financial objectives might conflict with the desire to increase employee satisfaction.

Being open about possible conflicts and juggling priorities can be difficult, but it will significantly contribute to the success of a project. It will provide a framework for decisions to be made during the design process and it will help explain to end-users why certain changes will take place.

When translating objectives into a tangible work environment, a number of important decisions have to be made. Again looking at the design process from a strategic, managerial point of view, we believe that there are six critical topics for decision-making: location of work; use of workstations; layout of partitions; appearance of spaces; filing of documents; and, standardisation of solutions.

These choices are fundamental in nature and determine the overall direction of an office concept. Furthermore, they will directly affect occupancy costs and have a significant impact on employee satisfaction — as they touch upon deeply rooted organisational conventions such as interaction, status, privacy and territoriality.

For these reasons, we believe these issues are best addressed by management understanding the present and aspired strategy, processes and identity of the organisation. Once decisions have been taken on each topic, they provide a framework for more detailed decisions and user participation in the later project stages.

Once the basic choices have been made, the (re)development project becomes more operational. At that point, it is time to focus on tangible spaces. Management may for example have opted for an open work environment, but that still leaves them a wide variety of options. An open floor filled with large numbers of identical workbenches, for example, is significantly different from an open floor with a diverse mix of team units, meeting spots, lounges and study booths.

Nature of space

To aid decision-making concerning office spaces, our book, Planning Office Spaces, distinguishes three different types of spaces: work spaces, meeting spaces and support spaces. Although one can arguably identify additional types of spaces (for example, social spaces and central spaces), we found that this basic typology works well when involving managers and end-users in the briefing and design process.

From each of the three space categories identified, organisations have to select those spaces that match the activities and processes to be accommodated. In order to fully grasp the impact of each office space, our book not only provides a concise description for each space type, but also highlights its spatial requirements as well as relevant pros and cons. Furthermore, inspiring examples of real-life projects for each space type in use are provided.

Work spaces

With the term work spaces we refer to spaces for ‘classic office activities such as reading, writing and computer work. Although one can argue that any space can be a workspace in this time and age, we use the term to refer to spaces that are specifically designed to accommodate desk-related activities. In describing the different work space types, the main discriminator has been the degree of enclosure and level of flexibility. Options range from small open offices to large enclosed offices. Another important distinction is down to whether workstations are allocated to one individual or shared by multiple employees. We identified nine generic types of work space, each supporting different activities, requiring different floor areas, and having different advantages.

Meeting spaces

With the term meeting spaces, we refer to spaces that are specifically designed for interactive processes, be it quick conversations or intensive brainstorms. Again, one can argue that whole office buildings actually function as a meeting spaces these days.

Yet it still makes sense to identify and think about the need for specific meeting spaces that are designed to stimulate and accommodate specific types of meetings. The most important discriminator between the various meeting space types is the number of users and the degree to which the space is open or enclosed. Another important distinction is the character of the meeting space, which is related to the nature of the meeting. Different types of meeting (formal or informal, scheduled or impromptu) ask for different kinds of space.

Support spaces

In addition to work and meeting spaces, there are also essential support spaces — spaces designed for secondary activities such as filing and printing as well as taking a break and receiving guests.

An important consideration when designing support spaces is their social potential. As is well known, support spaces act as meeting points. Think of the almost proverbial chance encounters that take place at the water-cooler or copy machine. Thereby, such spaces can positively impact on internal communication and social cohesion and should be positioned strategically.

Implementation

All previous sections are very much focused on the ‘product, being the physical work environment. Just as important, however, is the ‘process during which this environment is created. Even the best designed office concepts may not reach their full potential due to a badly managed implementation process. Think of concepts that are badly communicated, in which the voice of end-users is simply not heard, or in which managers ignore the leading role they should play in such a process.

The main challenge when implementing a new office concept, however, is resistance. In trying to realise change, resistance is a fact of life. The office is no exception, especially when walls, doors or private space are taken away. However, resistance can be reduced, and sometimes even turned into acceptance, by carefully and pro-actively implementing and developing the new concept. Among other things, this means engaging, informing and involving end-users and making a careful analysis of the actual needs of the organisation. In addition, however, successful implementation also asks for a certain degree of hard-headedness, dedication and passion for the envisioned change.

Here are six key processes for the successful implementation of new office concepts:

• Analyse
  Thoroughly analyse the organisation to develop a successful office concept (such as employee surveys and scenario analysis)
• Communicate
  Clearly communicate from the start of a project to engage employees (through presentations, new letters, intranet, and the like)
• Involve
  Involve stakeholders to ensure optimal solutions (via workshops and focus groups excursions)
• Integrate
  Constructively involve HR, IT and PR departments to deliver integral solutions (through change programmes and working groups)
• Care and preserve
  Carefully monitor the new office to guarantee proper use (through POEs, planned checks, instruction books, for example)
• Be brave
  Dedication and belief in the envisioned change contribute to the success of a project

Our objective is to make office design accessible to non-professionals, taking a step-by-step approach and listing relevant topics to be considered in a condensed yet concise way. We envision managers and employees, at the start of a project, stumbling upon our book, reading it on the train or over lunch, and quickly grasping the relevant issues.