Graduate Design 2

ASSIGMENT 2 CASESTUDY

Esperanza Muino

1/22/2015

Privacy Integration Proximity Balance

There is always a coworker who is talking loudly on the phone ...

The tendency to open offices is explained by a desire to fos-ter collaboration ... and save costs.

Some people need space to

think and concentrate.

Constant noise is one of the inevitable discomforts of an open design.

Bala

nce

People must feel confident that they can converse without being inter-rupted or overheard. They must also be able to avoid interacting when they want to. Alcoves lend privacy to public spaces. Clear policies about who has access to which communications help protect privacy online. More than half of employees prefer a private work space, while open plan office workers often experience too many distractions to work effectively, according to new data. New office technologies and a move towards collaborative, open-plan offices are leading to declining performance among workers, according to a new workplace design study by architects Gensler.

Nearness or closeness in space. Designs must drive traffic to

shared spaces and give people reasons to remain. Centrally

located areas containing shared resources such as phot copi-

ers and coffee machines do this well. For virtual workers, con-

tinuously open video links and instant messaging provide a

sense of proximity.

Quiet areas, spaces for quick meetings and workspaces with views can help create a balanced, and more effective, office environment. The first priority is to optimize the functionality of primary workspaces. Design elements must mitigate noise and provide access to col-leagues while minimizing distractions. It's also important to design a pleasing space where people actually want to be. A balanced work-place also provides a healthy dose of alternative workspaces where groups of one to four people can seamlessly transition from individual work to group work.

Integration or collaboration is define as work with another per-son or group in order to achieve or do something. Some firms have say that open-plan offices increase opportunities for col-laboration, but just because someone can see their colleagues doesn't mean they’re going to collaborate with them.

Inte

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Pri

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Private

space

Semi private

spaces

Pro

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Lehrer Architects purchased

this 50 year old, 7,400 square

foot building in the Silver lake

area of Los Angeles in 2005.

The once dingy and crowded

5,400 square foot warehouse

was transformed into a work-

ing studio office of light, air,

and transparency. Succinct in-

terventions — blowing out the

southern wall; work surfaces of

4’ x 8’ white painted solid core

doors; epoxy-finished, painted

floors; off-the-shelf storage sys-

tems; the red line resolving the

trapezoidal shape of the space;

and strategic landscape design

— accomplished the job for

$20.00/square foot (including

mechanical/electrical/data/

telephone infrastructure, the

garden, and the build-out of all

work surfaces). An exploration

of working space.

connections to the landscape and fresh air

Generous, and available storage & Presentation board Visual distraction

Massive natural light

Distracting Stimulus: Noise & Visual The problem with open plan offices is the perception that you throw everybody at what’s called “benching,” which is lots of rows and rows of tables in a vast open space, where because they can all see each other and hear each other, they will all collaborate and be more effective. Distracting noise and visual stimulus in open-plan offices is one reason for the drop, according to Matthew Kobylar, re-gional workplace practice area leader at Gensler.

No Spaces for Privacy It doesn’t really recognize different work styles. There’s a time when you need to share information and collaborate and there’s a time when you need to go away and do some deep thinking. So really the secret is to have a type of multi-space for heads-down focused work and also for collaborative kind of work. They involve two different kinds of spac-es and furniture solutions.

Open spaces lack of Privacy Individual Work stations

Proximity

No availability of secondary work-spaces, noisy activities such as meetings and conference calls can take place. The proximity and availability of sec-ondary work environments can bring balance to a workspace and help occupants work more effectively, both by providing the spaces they need to perform a variety of activi-ties and moving noise and distrac-tion-creating activities away from desks and into more appropriate spaces.

Lack of Private Spaces The lack of space in cubicles and open office plan layouts is the prima-ry reason for workers' frustration. Out of all the factors evaluated, amount of space was deemed most important. While it might seem coun-terintuitive for open office workers to complain about lack of space—they have the whole office!—people really just want some breathing room, away from their loud coworkers.

No Semi Private spaces

Meeting space

Focus on Collaboration

Open plan is quite effective as a gen-

eral space but there are times when

you need to focus on collaboration, and

it fails to support that .

A well-designed office is a happy office.

As facilities managers strive to save

space and cash, they’re reshuffling

desks and fiddling with tempera-

ture gauges. All of which has an impact

on workers’ performance. Open-plan

offices may make some kinds of collab-

oration easier, but are they more con-

ducive to productivity? What’s the

most irritating workplace distraction?

And are those state-of-the-art work-

stations actually more comfortable?

Integration Some studies show that employees in open plan spaces, aware that they may be overheard, have more-superficial discussions than they otherwise would, having trouble with the integration. If we spend more than half of our time on work that requires concen-tration, we need to be sure we have some quiet places in the office; oth-erwise performance will suffer.

Too open space

Runway by FME Architecture + Design is one of the biggest technology co-working and incubation spaces in the San Francisco Bay Area. Member-ship is by invitation only and available for the best early stage technology startups. Their open office space assists the clients in creating and rein-forcing a cutting edge yet warm and unpretentious brand to at-tract top-tier startup tenants. Over one-third of their office space is dedicated communal collaborative space for meet-ings, video conferencing, train-ing & socializing. Individuals and clients can rent a desk or 400 SQF bays of space within the open office landscape. Af-ter less than a year in opera-tion, Runway already has a waiting list of people interested in joining this community.

Some Privacy. Space for small meetings

Spaces in Close Proximity The problem from open space office is really having the spaces in close proximity. If someone needs to leave an open-plan area to go and find a private conference room not in use on another floor, you just stay where you are and suffer. So the goal has been to provide acoustical, sound cone kind of products in close proximity to the team areas so one can get up and transfer from one work mode to another very eas-ily.

Spaces for Balance Workplace designers should provide a variety of "secondary" workspaces where workers can concentrate on individual or group tasks, away from distractions - and to prevent them from creating distractions them-selves. Quiet areas, spaces or booths for quick meetings and work-spaces with views can all help cre-ate a balanced, and more effective, office environment.

Center circulation zone

Privacy zone

Public zone

& Proximity

Semi Private balance spaces

Open areas

Contrast between spaces

Individuals and clients can rent a desk or 400

SQF bays of space within the open office

landscape.

Common open spaces

The long hallways have poured con-crete floors. Harmony in choosing materials

Materials and Environment The environment of colors, sun light and position of desk are critical for work productivity. Grey colors and old furniture make us to work less and not so creative. In other side or-ange, green or any bright color ac-cents in combination with design fur-niture can make you to reach the re-al artist inside you. It is proven that good interiors determine the way you live.

Ideas for Solution

“Balanced workplace” with a varie-ty of different workspaces for dif-ferent tasks. Designing with elements that miti-gate noise and provide access to colleagues while minimizing dis-tractions. It's also important to de-sign a pleasing space where peo-ple actually want to be.

Productivity Balanced workplaces where em-ployees have the autonomy to choose their work space based on the task or project at hand are more effective, productive and higher per-forming. Effective work can happen in both open and enclosed environ-ments.

Technology As well as increasing pressure on workers, technology could help in-crease effectiveness if used properly. Tablet computers, smartphones and wifi – technologies that didn’t exist be-fore – allow staff to move between dif-ferent work environments according to the tasks they are working on. Technology has moved on a lot in the last five years, You can be mobile in the office. You can pick up your kit and go.

Conclusion To really drive performance, design-ers must create work environments where workers can shift between vari-ous work modes and feel comfortable working privately or collaborating with colleagues.

High-density desking contrasts

with the wide-open center aisle

Integration and Balance

Sources:

http://www.dezeen.com/2013/07/31/bad-workplace-design-means-most-

employees-are-struggling-to-work-effectively/

http://www.dezeen.com/2014/11/21/open-plan-office-designs-unpopular-with-

workers-damage-productivity/

http://workdesign.com/2014/12/best-workplace-projects-2014/

https://g2workplace2015.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/balancing-22we22-and-

22me22.pdf

https://g2workplace2015.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/who-moved-my-

cube1.pdf

https://g2workplace2015.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/who-moved-my-

cube1.pdf

Control of noise

& visual distrac-

tions

Contrast between spaces