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workplace design: The Latest Architecture and News

Why Workspaces are Obsessed with the Open Plan

In a brilliant article for Der Spiegel, "The New Monuments to Digital Domination," writer Thomas Schulz not only rounds up our reigning tech giants' oddly-shaped offices - from Apple's "spaceship" to Amazon's "biodomes" - but also pinpoints what they have in common: horizontality. And why? Because an "open creative playground" without boundaries (like floors or walls) is "the perfect ideas factory: the ideal spatial environment for optimally productive digital workers who continuously churn out world-changing innovations." And while this means that privacy has gone out these workspaces' proverbial windows, Schulz isn't too surprised - after all, "people have no right to a private life in the digital age." Check out this must-read article here.

Is the Open Plan Bad for Us?

The concept of the open plan revolutionized architecture  - promising light, space, and effortless collaboration (not to mention a more cost-effective way of getting lots of people into one space). Today, it's practically become a standard of design - but at what cost? 

A new report from researchers Jungsoo Kim and Richard de Dear, published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, concludes that the open plan comes with some serious collateral damage - namely a lack of "sound privacy" - which outweighs its positive qualities. What's more, according to their results, the open plan doesn't even make a measurable improvement in communication at all.

Designing Offices For Introverts, Extroverts, & Everything In Between

In an article for Fast Company, Chris Congdon explains the key to designing workplaces that cater to the needs of introverts, extroverts and everyone in between. According to Congdon, most office workers need a mixture: places to be around others, encouraging collaboration, and places to work alone and focus on individual tasks. The solution? A "pallette of places" which give workers an ample choice of where to work. Read the full article here and learn more about how do design successful workplaces here.

Successful Workplaces Balance Focus and Collaboration, Gensler Study Finds

Successful Workplaces Balance Focus and Collaboration, Gensler Study Finds - Offices
AOL Offices by Studio A + O . Image © Jasper Sanidad

Gensler, who recently topped out on the world's second tallest skyscraper in Shanghai, have just released a report outlining the keys to designing a successful workplace. Using their custom 'Workplace Performance Index' they surveyed 2035 office workers in the US to find out what makes employees happy and productive in their workplace.

One surprising result which they uncovered is that, in opposition to the trend of workplaces being designed to encourage collaboration, workers are actually spending more time on focused, individual tasks than they were 5 years ago. Consequently, over 50% of respondents said that they were distracted by others when they needed to focus. What's more, the survey found that when employees could not focus individually, collaborative work was also less productive.

Read on after the break to find out more results from the survey

Office+Showroom for DK / Megabudka

Office+Showroom for DK / Megabudka - Offices Interiors, Beam, Door, Column, Facade, Handrail, Lighting, Bench, Table
Courtesy of Megabudka
Office buildings, Offices Interiors
•
Moscow, Russia
  • Architects: Megabudka
  • Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2013
  • Manufacturers Brands with products used in this architecture project
    Manufacturers:  Belux, Erik Jørgensen, Kusch+Co, Nayada

Office+Showroom for DK / Megabudka - Offices Interiors, Beam, Table, ChairOffice+Showroom for DK / Megabudka - Offices Interiors, Door, Table, ChairOffice+Showroom for DK / Megabudka - Offices Interiors, Kitchen, Facade, Beam, Table, Lighting, Chair, CountertopOffice+Showroom for DK / Megabudka - Offices Interiors, Kitchen, Table, LightingOffice+Showroom for DK / Megabudka - More Images+ 5

Zappos to Build Intentionally Inconvenient Office in Las Vegas

Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh has recently invested $350 million dollars of his own money into downtown Las Vegas, where the new Zappos' headquarters will soon call its home. Working in the vein of companies like Google and Apple, Hsieh and the head developer of the new campus, Zach Ware, have worked together on making a workspace environment in which creativity - and, consequently, inconvenience - is built into the design itself:

"'Our goal is not to create an office space that you take photos of and you say 'Wow, that's beautiful,'' says Ware. 'We're incredibly function-oriented.' Zappos' core focus is on company culture and the relationships between employees. To enhance that, as odd as it sounds, parts of the office are deliberately inconvenient."

Read Max Nisen's article on Zappos' "inconvenient," new headquarters after the break...