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Specifying the office
Overview:
In most cases the requirement will be for space
that is high quality, well-lit, ventilated and
temperature-controlled, flexible, re-configurable, secure and
fully wired for IT and telephony.
Whilst each situation is different, and
dedicated facilities such as call centres have specialist
requirements, most general offices with mixed usage can be
configured from a series of building blocks, as outlined below.
Understanding needs:
A key principle for specifying office
requirements is that the variety of ways on which different
roles and tasks are carried out need to be analysed, with office
space designed accordingly.
One analysis of the new approach to office
design (see Flexibility review) identifies four space models
based on the degree of autonomy and interaction as follows:
Model
|
Interaction
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Autonomy
|
Examples
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Hive
|
Low
|
Low
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Routine process work
e.g. data entry, call centres
|
Cell
|
Low
|
High
|
Concentrated professional work
e.g. accountants
|
Den
|
High
|
Low
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Busy team work
e.g. media production
|
Club
|
High
|
High
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Knowledge work
e.g. IT, consultancy
|
Each of these models implies a different
approach to the use of space. The trend in general offices is
away from the highly structured hive (production line) and cell
(quiet individual units) models towards dens (noisy open space)
and clubs (a variety of work settings). In fact whilst dens can
provide a lively social environment and high levels of
face-to-face interactivity, distraction levels are often
excessive and it is the technology-supported club environment
that is proving most attractive: traditional "den"
activities such as information exchange and trading no longer
depend exclusively on face-to-face contact.
The extreme concept of the "club" is
that, apart from service staff, everyone is a
"visitor", choosing a work setting that is most
appropriate for that visit - "hot-desk", study zone,
meeting room, café, team area, touchdown station, etc. Whilst
this may fit well the requirements of some teams, others may
operate best with a less extreme approach.
Another concept sometimes used to good effect is
of "pitchers" and "catchers". Pitchers are
out of the office much of the time, visiting for specific
activities: meetings, briefings, research, handover, etc.
Pitchers do not need personal desks, instead using the most
appropriate facilities on demand. Catchers on the other hand are
mainly office-based staff and would normally work at the same
desk every day.
One understandable characteristic of many
offices is that there are not many people around because they
are out delivering services, working with other organisations or
at meetings. However the average proportion of desks occupied
usually varies between teams and, to some extent, within teams.
By and large the amount of space allocated should reflect the
number of people likely to be present at one time rather than
the total number of people in the team.
Building blocks:
The extreme opposite of providing everyone with
their own work place is a whole building hot-desking
arrangement, whereby staff can be allocated a work place
anywhere in the building. Such an approach, sometime called
"hotelling", is usually intensely disliked and can
lead to poor morale and productivity. Most people want to meet
and work with their colleagues rather than a bunch of strangers.
What does work well is a combination of
centrally shared facilities and "team space":
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Centrally shared and managed facilities can
often extend beyond the usual reception and meeting rooms to
include facilities that could not be justified in any one
team.
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Team space provides identity and belonging
in an appropriate "club" environment for all that
team's staff.
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Allocation of space to teams, and layout of
that space, should be based on usage and business need
rather than total numbers and status.
Finally, particular care should be taken to
recruit, train and provide good facilities for the permanent
support staff, both central and team-based. They will play a
vital role in organising and supporting those working more
flexibly.
Centrally shared space:
Common space, shared between teams, can include:
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Staff and visitor reception facilities.
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Flexible meeting rooms, for example with
folding partitions to vary room sizes and numbers.
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Café facilities with mixed seating (tables
and low seating), suitable for informal meetings.
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Touchdown facilities for internal and
external visitors - often integrated with the café
facilities.
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A quiet zone, for uninterrupted study and
report-writing.
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Where paper files are to be retained,
secure, high-density paper storage facilities.
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Facilities for high capacity printing,
copying, binding, laminating, faxing, mail receipt,
distribution, franking, consumables storage, etc.
Team space:
Team space can be built from the following
components:
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A secretarial unit - this is the operational
hub of the team space and can include local printing,
copying and other facilities as well as a desk for the team
secretary / administrator
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A manager desk with adjacent small table and
chair
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Desks for staff allocated personal workspace
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Desks for staff sharing workspace
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A team resources area (books, magazines,
team filing, etc.) with local tea / coffee / water services
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Soft seating area around low table
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Retreats - small cellular rooms (6 sq m)
with table, two chairs
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One or more small meeting room (10 sq m) -
cellular rooms with table, four chairs
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A team table and chairs
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Roll-away pedestals for personal storage.
How much space?
Modern furniture, reduced paper storage demands,
smaller PCs (especially flat screens) and flexible buildings
together allow higher densities to be achieved without undue
overcrowding.
Reducing the number of people allocated personal
desks and increasing the proportion of shared space increase the
population size that the building can support. Space demands
reduce further as staff undertake more of their work away from
the office.
Whilst there is no substitute for designing
space from first principles, some indicative figures may be
helpful. These are taken from an organisation with a mixture of
cellular offices and open plan space and the figures apply to
middle managers and professional staff:
|
Conventional
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Flexible
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Space allocated per desk
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130 sq ft
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90 sq ft
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Number of staff supported by each desk
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1.0
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2.5*
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Space allocated per person
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130 sq ft
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36 sq ft
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* a desk to staff ratio of 2.5
is low: ratios up to 10 have been implemented successfully
As a rule of thumb, the most successful
implementations have given back half of this saving in improved
shared space: cafes, lounges, meeting rooms and social
facilities such as gyms.
Challenging assumptions:
In some respects the potential of ICT-based
working means that all space is "up for grabs" in
terms of reduction or re-purposing. The completely
"virtual" company - i.e. one where there are no
permanent central shared facilities - is one radical
possibility, although not one as yet embraced by any large
organisations.
An analysis of work styles should identify why
people do what they do and where they do it. It should also
identify to what extent people work where they do out of
necessity and to what extent it is simply out of personal habit
or organisational convention. The alternative scenarios can be
assessed. And one has to be ready to challenge easy assumptions.
For example, it is not only field workers (or
"pitchers" as referred to above) who can be set up
with facilities away from the office to improve efficiency and
cut down on wasteful travel. People involved in administrative
work, such as intensive data processing, in some cases may best
be located remotely. In these circumstances, it may be
appropriate to consider quite radical space reduction at central
premises, with shared space tailored for client services,
team-building or training purposes.
Interior design and furniture:
Building or refurbishment projects will normally
leave internally a carpeted, cabled and security-lit shell with
a number of cellular spaces and other partitions. The bulk of
the customisation will then be carried out through furniture and
design.
The latest office furniture is designed to bring
even greater flexibility to the working environment:
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The heights of desks and tables can be
adjusted from the sitting to standing position
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Furniture can be rolled into different
positions
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Lightweight collapsible screens can be used
to create instant meeting areas
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Ergonomics are designed to reduce back
strain, RSI, eye fatigue and so on.
Along with furniture, modern design and lighting
concepts create a more human working environment, far removed
from the prison-cell or rectangular grid models with which we
are all familiar. One complaint often levelled at schemes that
reduce the amount of private space in favour of shared space is
the element of depersonalisation. Making the office more
comfortable and attractive - more like home - is a good way to
counter this feeling.
Most leading office furniture companies have a
good understanding of these points and many can demonstrate a
portfolio of suitable case studies.
Next article:
The
home office
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