Contract furnishings provider, Hightower received multiple awards at NeoCon 2021, including IIDA's 'Best Small Showroom' (under 4,000 sf) and 'Best of Competition' for its newly designed Chicago showroom.
Humanscale welcomes Elizabeth Margles to its Marketing Division in the role of Chief Marketing Officer. Margles comes to Humanscale with twenty years of experience in design, fashion and retail and a background in public relations and advertising.
The exclusive relationship with Kontrol's BioCloud® Technology will provide real-time detection of airborne pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2 to help make workplaces safer as organizations return to the office.
Is having a yoga studio, meditation classes, and fresh smoothies in your office going to be commonplace in the near future? Two former staffers at WeWork—the coworking mega-company valued at $16 billion—think so, and they’re making that endorphin-boosting dream a reality in New York City.
At KI, we are firm believers in Active Design, the practice of turning sedentary work environments into spaces that encourage healthier lifestyles. It’s evident that our reliance on technology has caused American workers to spend far more time seated, tied to a computer screen or device. So the question remains, how do we get employees out of their seats, fully engaged and healthier?
Brand integration for this audio company comes in the form of design elements one would find in a home listening environment. These residential touches are also consistent with New England’s architectural vernacular and connect the brand on a regional level.
Design-minded companies typically flaunt their cred through inventive and wildly creative offices. Of course, this requires a certain amount of space—and capital—to achieve. But before a business gets big enough to achieve a dream build-out, it probably started off with just a few people in a small, scrappy, temporary space. But according to Stefan Diez, an industrial designer who is based in Munich, that doesn't mean small offices shouldn't be well designed and stocked with thoughtfully considered furniture.
Everyone gets excited when the time for a new office rolls around. Standing desks! Natural light! New kitchen! But tough luck if you're an introvert. Chances are any semblance of privacy will be kicked to the curb. Despite evidence that open offices decrease productivity, create time-consuming distractions, and are more costly than private offices, 70 percent of offices now have an open floor plan.
Telecommuting is on the rise. And with more and more work done online, it’s hardly surprising. Who wouldn’t want to skip the morning commute and work from the comfort of home? But not everybody is happy about the shift—especially office landlords, who are adapting to the trend by rethinking office layouts and searching for the best ways to stay competitive while giving modern tenants what they're looking for.
Ever notice your members restless and distracted after lunch or early in the afternoon? Does your community manager notice mindless typing, distracted members, many getting up and sitting down and then getting up again? Though many a time internal factors such as lack of sleep or overeating lead to this kind of behavior, truth is that environmental factors also contribute to them. Which is why it’s important for your workspace to be inviting and encouraging. Think of it this way: when you’re in a room that’s too hot or too cold, that is noisy, and has bright colors you can’t sleep well – you don’t feel rested. Well, same goes for the workspace; the same factors in a room that can influence or deter sleep can also drive or deter productivity.
How sedentary is your work? If you’re like many office workers, you probably wish you could be more active, maybe spend less time sitting. But, work keeps most of us at our desks. We may have a cell phone, maybe a tablet or laptop, so you’d think we could be fairly mobile. But most workers aren’t.
The way we work changes rapidly. The intersection of technology and architecture offers a glimpse into the workplace of the future. A typical workday no longer resembles a worker sitting in rush hour traffic for an hour, and then at a cubicle for eight more. Advances in workplace architecture and emerging technologies are changing the face of the work environment. These changes are having positive effects on productivity.
What's the relationship between quality of office space and company performance in tech companies? originally appeared on Quora - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights.
Modeling and Big Data startup Ekimetrics has unveiled a redesign of its Paris office with a very interesting solution for extra meeting room seats. Instead of tucking away chairs in a backroom, architects at Vincent & Gloria Architects built a wall that displays them.
Workplaces communicate with people. Not to worry. Big Brother isn’t implanting Siri into your office furniture. But the office environment you’ve designed sends a message to the people that work for you.
“Workplaces where employees are engaged communicate to the people who work there — and anyone else in them — that their employer values them and the contribution that they make.” writes Sally Augustin, Ph.D. in the Harvard Business Review. “The psychological lift that comes from feeling respected enhances engagement.” Augustin is a practicing environmental psychologist and principal at Design With Science.
A generational change in technology, working culture and staff demands are continuing to drive a significant impact on the development of workspaces, and has forced managers of even the biggest corporations to adapt their office layout to get the best out of their workers. No longer are the dull deary isolated cubicles enough for employees.
On the evening of March 24th, Metropolis publisher and editor in chief, Susan S. Szenasy, arrived at the iconic, postmodern Lipstick Building to moderate and lead the State of Design: Where We Work panel, hosted by Meadows Office Interiors in their Manhattan showroom. The panelists—Kelly Funk, senior workplace strategist, IA Interior Architects; Adrian Parra, director of marketing for North America, Vitra; and Randall A. Whinnery III, senior director of design, Fidelity Real Estate Co.—tackled the topic of office design, specifically, how to “hack” workplace design.
The majority of offices aren’t fitted out to match their specific needs. They have simply moved into an empty space, which wasn’t originally designed for them, and made the best of the layout. However, once settled, it is a good idea to think about enhancing the layout and refitting the space to meet requirements. This might mean rewiring, relocating pipework, or splashing out on brand new furniture.
Much has been said about flexible workspaces as it relates to work-style, but little has been said about them in regards to how they help improve a city or neighborhood. Flexible workspaces are all about providing workers with an option and a solution that adapts to their working needs. This goes from offering different rates and packages (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly), to also offering them with the option of where local business owners and local entrepreneurs want to work from.
When it comes to office space planning, the trend in past decades has been to try and cram as many people into the office as possible, in order to make maximum use of the space available. However, in more recent times, designers have started to realize that this may not be the best way to proceed. Indeed, as research has raised awareness of the importance of staff happiness, we have seen a move away from regimented office layouts, towards designs which help to introduce an element of fun to the working day. Here, we take a look at how some businesses are using creative and clever design to redefine workplace fun.
As an industry, flexible workspace is an opportunity-rich hybrid that can – and frequently does – branch out into many new and exciting avenues. But words alone don’t do justice to the strength and vitality of the flexible workspace sector. We need statistics to give us a clear indication of how and where the industry is developing, its strengths and weaknesses, the challenges that lay ahead, and its ultimate potential.
New Yorkers have long bemoaned their city being overrun by bland office towers and chain stores: Soon, it seems, every corner will either be a bank, a Walgreens, or a Starbucks. And there is indeed evidence that all cities are starting to look the same, which can hurt local growth and wages. But there could be more than an economic or nostalgic price to impersonal retail and high-rise construction: Boring architecture may take an emotional toll on the people forced to live in and around it.
Business growth is radically redefining how employees are managed, especially as there is greater competition than ever to hire the best people from a much more demanding employee population. Yet employees report that a lack of development, outdated processes, and discontent with the role of their managers are causing them to feel dissatisfied according to Mercer’s 2016 Global Talent Trends Study, the first to take into account the perspective of both employers and employees. While 85 percent of organizations admit that their talent management programs need an overhaul, 70 percent are confident about filling critical roles with internal candidates, 28 percent of employees say they plan to leave in the next 12 months even though they are satisfied with their current role. Managing these challenges requires support but only 4 percent of HR professionals feel that the HR function is viewed as a strategic business partner within their organizations.
