The Third Space
Home is the first space and office the second and all other public gathering places in between are described as “The Third Space”. Employers globally are capitalising on bringing the third space in to the office and enabling their employees to work out in it.
Book stores and libraries
Learning leads to innovation and places where learning in the form of physical information such as in a book store and in libraries encourage the gathering of those who have an ambition to learn.
Unlike stuffy libraries of yore modern libraries and meeting rooms are inviting energising and inspiring places where there is both space for focus and space for interaction.
The third place needs regulars and people with similar interests this is why places like a library or reading room work as well in a corporate environment as in the modern book store. By bringing people in search of knowledge together increases the chances of co-fertilisation of ideas.
Interoperable spaces within offices allow
flexible design and a work place that can be
tailored to individual requirements.
“Totally unlike Main Street, the shopping mall is populated by strangers. As people circulate about in the constant, monotonous flow of mall pedestrian traffic, their eyes do not cast about for familiar faces, for the chance of seeing one is small. That is not part of what one expects there. The reason is simple. The mall is centrally located to serve the multitudes from a number of outlying developments within its region.
Workplace Satisfaction Survey, now in its fifth year and with cumulative responses from over 15,000 people, the most important work satisfaction issues are connections: access to people who are relevant to their job (98% say this is important); access to the right technology and tools (97%); access to Images courtesy of Benoy. information (99%).
There is little acquaintance between these developments and not much more within them. Most of them lack focal points or core settings and, as a result, people are not widely known to one another, even in their own neighborhoods, and their neighborhood is only a minority portion of the mall’s clientele.” (Oldernberg)
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| Places for mentoring—millennials are joining the workforce and boomers are starting to leave, so quiet places (e.g. a private enclave, a meeting space off to the side, etc.) help people share expertise and experience, further the organizational culture, preserve institutional memory, and encourage more collaboration. (Steelcase) |
Park, Waterfront
By bringing the outdoors in and letting employees out into the fresh air you are not only improving their health but creating a respect for nature and responsibility for their surroundings. “In the absence of informal public life, living becomes more expensive. Where the means and facilities for relaxation and leisure are not publicly shared, they become the objects of private ownership and consumption.” (Oldernberg)
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| Water and nature produce a cooling and creativity inspiring atmosphere that companies are capitalising on to get results from their staff. (See page 34) Daylight received through windows or in the open air is also productivity inducing. |
As populations become wealthier often their populations start to ‘privatise’ public, and particularly green space as enclaves for the rich. This is dangerous in public as it is within a company as it encourages disrespect for the remainder of the environments and discourages all-important communication systems.
“Most needed are those ‘third places’ which lend a public balance to the increased privatization of home life. Third places are nothing more than informal public gathering places. The phrase ‘third places’ derives from considering our homes to be the ‘first’ places in our lives, and our work places the ‘second.’ (Oldernberg)”
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| Every workplace needs a “social hub” — a place to “touch down” — especially for those who work away. You catch up with colleagues on project progress, take away tasks, get some work done, and catch up on all the gossip before flying back out. – Angela Sasso, Swanke Hayden Connell Architects. |
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Market, canteens, public transportation
Oldenberg argues that there is something in bringing people into the third space that encourages democracy, civic engagement, and sense of common purpose. “What suburbia cries for are the means for people to gather easily, inexpensively, regularly, and pleasurably — a ‘place on the corner,’ real life alternatives to television, easy escapes from the cabin fever of marriage and family life that do not necessitate getting into an automobile.” (Oldernberg)
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| Creating a pleasant environment where people can share food is universally appreciated and encourages staff to interact. In studies done by some companies. |
“The character of a third place is determined most of all by its regular clientele and is marked by a playful mood, which contrasts with people’s more serious involvement in other spheres.
Though a radically different kind of setting for a home, the third place is remarkably similar to a good home in the psychological comfort and support that it extends They are the heart of a community’s social vitality, the grassroots of democracy, but sadly, they constitute a diminishing aspect of the American social landscape.” (Oldernberg)
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| According to a Steelcase white paper Neil Tunmore director of facilities globally for Intel found that not only were desks empty 60% of the time but that staff were going to the cafeteria to work as project teams as well as many others needed to collaborate and work together and that could not be done effectively from their desks. |
Coffee shop
Reducing the number of desks in the office saves real estate costs – people would often be happier and more productive without the commute in an environment where they feel more comfortable. “Life without community has produced, for many, a life style consisting mainly of a home-to-work-and-back-again shuttle. Social well-being and psychological health depend upon community. It is no coincidence that the ‘helping professions’ became a major industry in the United States as suburban planning helped destroy local public life and the community support it once lent.” (Oldernberg)
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| Many environments are using multiple third space elements in one, such as this coffee shop that incorporates the tranquility of a water feature. |
“There was a break through that happened in thinking about the workplace says Oldenburg and it came about when employers started to realise that productivity was not linked to time spent at the desk. They also realised that already there was huge variation in what employees did with their time. These thoughts have influenced workplace design and planning ever since. It started with a move towards more flexibility in the work place — not just spaces that are less rigidly desk bound but that can easily be reconfigured as requirements changed. then people started looking at places to work outside of the office. Finally now you are finding work clubs not too far from home where people will drop in to be with people and get work done at the same time.” (Oldernberg)
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In the end, location matters to knowledge work. A generic location will produce generic results. Thoughtful physical surroundings, seamless technology, the ability to easily share and capture information and ideas, private and open spaces, and gracious service centered on supporting the work process, can make all the difference. (Steelcase)
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| In the world of the modern office worker meetings don’t need to be long or formal, space where employees can meet briefly to chat in an area where they wont disturb focus workers promotes easy effective communication. |
Frank Graziano, designer for WorkSpace Futures at Steelcase, and part of adventure team that developed Workspring, a new concept work away from the office concept targeted at people looking “for the right blend of privacy and isolation that’s needed to get work done, but at the same time we want to feel connected to the greater whole.”
