Oliver Ronald, Sales & Marketing Director at Boss Design, explains why habitats are now key to successful workplace design.
It’s long been accepted that workplace design is no longer just about the space available. Today, it’s all about how people work and are managed, and the technologies that enable their work. It’s also about finding new and better ways to structure time, and to design space that will bind the happiness, success and wellbeing of individuals.
But how many of us actually view the workplace as a series of habitats? By definition, a habitat is a person’s usual or preferred surroundings, and given that we’ve started to make a connection between increased productivity and a healthy work environment, it makes sense for the workplace to be designed so that workers are supported in all their activities and corresponding surroundings.
Of course, every organisation has its unique character in terms of strategies, culture, challenges and opportunities, but when creating an optimal work environment, there are six key habitats that need to be considered.
Welcome: First impressions count, and the foyer or reception area is the place where visitors discover what defines an organisation. When planned correctly, this space helps manage the flow of people and reflects the company’s overall brand.
It can also perform as a business lounge, and by introducing a range of furniture options, can be exploited to maximise efficiency and utilisation. Hospitality is central to the users’ experience, but the welcome area also provides opportunities for helping visitors find their way, and ensures that waiting time is both comfortable and productive.
Home: Everyone needs a home and many people require a dedicated workstation due to the nature of their work. Highly mobile workers do not necessarily need to own their own desk, but when they are in the office they simply need a place to work. Touchdown facilities provide access to tools and technology, and are accessible to more sedentary workers for the sharing of information and experience. Enclaves or enclosed spaces should be located nearby for when people need to concentrate, make phone calls or conduct confidential interactions. Well-planned home spaces help people improve individual work processes, speed up the development of ideas, improve learning, and gain access to information quickly.
Flow: These spaces are the primary paths through the workplace that provide plenty of opportunities for planned and unplanned encounters. When planned strategically, circulation spaces are about encouraging the serendipity associated with spontaneous informal exchanges. Knowledge moves quickly through networked groups and from chance encounters – in the stair well, over the water cooler, in the reprographics section, etc.
Sympathetically located standing height tables and bar stools can encourage spontaneous exchanges, and visual displays such as monitors and writable surfaces can support impromptu discussion and idea sharing.
Collaboration: Collective intelligence outperforms individual intelligence. These days, people tend to be away from their desks holding meetings formally or informally, on or off campus, so ideally, collaboration settings should be located adjacent to home settings to assist in the speed of the development of ideas and flow of knowledge. When teams need to concentrate or engage in confidential collaboration, both acoustic and visual privacy should be provided through dedicated spaces structures with high vertical surfaces. Technology, furniture and interior architecture should all be integrated to provide a plug and play environment.
Formal Meet: Meeting environments are to accommodate planned and traditional meeting requirements – board meetings, seminars, client presentations or informal networking events. Spaces for staged meetings provide the means to share information at many levels and through many different styles. They are all about conveying the company image, learning and developing new ideas, and ultimately expediting effective decision making. People are spending increasingly long periods of time away from their desks in meetings. Hence, meeting spaces should be dynamic – supporting different postures, ensuring technology is accessible, and providing flexible furniture.
Workcafé: This is a signature space that can define a company’s culture, improve productivity and become a magnet that attracts employees to the workplace. This habitat provides for a combination of working, socialising and refuelling, to activate under-utilised real estate and to foster employee productivity and wellbeing. It’s a compelling way to generate energy – a hub where people choose to work. Whereas a standard cafeteria’s activity spikes at breakfast and lunch, with some activity around break times, the Workcafé is a dynamic hub throughout the entire workday.
By creating habitats in the workplace, the choice of office and contract furniture will further support these patterns of working and foster individual and corporate wellbeing. When applied successfully, it can mean that some workplaces don’t even look or feel like an office at all. They become less one-dimensional and more about social and collaborative networking spaces – successfully blending the seriousness of official business with the energetic vibe of a coffee café.
For further information contact 01242 584897 or visit www.boss-design.com
