Workplace Design

THE NEW CORPORATE CAMPUS

THE NEW CORPORATE CAMPUS

The corporate office landscape has continuously evolved to meet market demands and enable companies to compete for work, real estate, and talent. Decades ago, the sprawling suburban campus was the corporate office solution — think classic campuses like Connecticut General outside of Hartford and the Texaco campus in Rye, N.Y. Years later, corporations began to gravitate toward a real estate model that relied on leasing developer-owned space. Today, a new corporate real estate model, influenced by the combined history of corporate campuses and leased office space, has emerged to better meet the needs of global corporations and their changing workforce.

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From Education to Workplace: Designing a Seamless Transition

From Education to Workplace: Designing a Seamless Transition

We live in an ever changing economy. Students and employees joining the work force today, think, work and act differently than past generations. It is our responsibility as designers to create spaces that respond to this younger generation. They are, in fact, future leaders of our nation.

As a firm, DLR Group is fortunate to practice across multiple sectors, including both education and workplace. Our design teams regularly share valuable information on trends and benchmarks that will shape the future of facilities for both user groups. A common theme we see in both settings is the high degree of flexibility day to day and adaptability year to year. And three kinds of specific spaces are emerging as the appropriate support for the day to day activities of the creative economy: gathering spaces that support synergies among many; pods that encourage small group interactions; and huddle spaces that foster one on one dialogue.

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Spatial Culture: Tech firms aim to display company culture through office design

Spatial Culture: Tech firms aim to display company culture through office design

As technology companies outline plans for their office design, creating ways to showcase their culture impacts the process.

“Every company has its own unique culture and core values that make up who they are and have contributed to their success,” said Jenny Haeg, founder and CEO of San Francisco real estate firm Custom Spaces, which focuses on finding space for technology and startup companies. “Therefore, it’s crucial for a company to individualize their space to allow that unique culture to flourish and develop.”

For example, one company Haeg assisted was San Francisco-based Checkr, which expedites employee background screenings for businesses. Part of the company’s goal was to create an office environment to reflect its values, including transparency and connection, said Khoi Ho, manager of people operations at Checkr.

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5 designers predict future of office spaces

5 designers predict future of office spaces

The office of the near future may be more focused on making you happy. Designers say companies are looking at ways to use data to keep employees comfortable and to give them the space they prefer to work in. Companies are also investing in ways to keep employees healthy and entertained — especially as businesses compete for talent.

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Video: Workplace design, building for humans and machines

Video: Workplace design, building for humans and machines

Jennifer Magnolfi, designer, architect, and founder and principal researcher of Programmable Habitats, has studied the convergence of human work and machine work. Increasingly, we will work alongside machines in spaces designed not just for people, but also for artificially intelligent occupants. Magnolfi already sees this in the hacker and maker spaces young roboticists are creating.

Tech-Honed Features Emerge in the Financial Sector

Tech-Honed Features Emerge in the Financial Sector

Popularly attributed to new technologies and the rise of high-tech firms, current workplace trends and new attitudes about work represent a cultural shift that draws from a combination of factors. Technology has set the ball in motion and continually updates the playing field, but behaviors and dynamics from other sectors have also made contributions.

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3 Misconceptions I wish everyone knew about Activity Based Working

3 Misconceptions I wish everyone knew about Activity Based Working

A big part of our job is re-educating people on their understanding of what Activity Based Working (ABW) really is. And perhaps even more importantly, help create their own definition of what it means for them personally.

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Are Recently Hired Graduates Lost in Transition?

Are Recently Hired Graduates Lost in Transition?

We’ve all heard the negative stereotype surrounding Millennials…entitled, lazy, do-gooders who can’t put down their smart phones. We’ve also heard the positive stereotype of this generation….tech-savvy, adaptable employees who look for meaning in their work and openly seek to collaborate with peers. Millennials now make up the largest generation in the workforce, leaving employers scratching their heads as to how to attract and retain these workers who seem to challenge the traditional norms of “work”.  KI and HOK set out to answer just this question. After speaking with HR professionals, employers and recent graduates we uncovered one, consistent truth, recently hired graduates are ‘lost in transition’.

Read the blog post on blog.ki.com >

Why the greatest places to work are also safe by design

Why the greatest places to work are also safe by design

An effective workplace is one that helps employees to feel relaxed, motivated, and safe. From my point of view, the latter is especially true. I believe that health and safety becomes a lot easier when it is built into the fabric of the building itself. The Google workplace has been praised for its great design, and it’s easy to see why. Alongside the eccentric features and the myriad of differently styled rooms is a serious commitment to the wellbeing of its employees. The design of the Google canteen (above) means that sugary snacks are stored in translucent containers at the back, but healthier options such as fruits and nuts are stored in transparent containers at the front. The idea is to encourage employees’ to be healthy using workplace design. This is just one example a company that has built safety and health into the fabric of their building rather than absent-mindedly forcing it upon the workplace as an afterthought.

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Mindful Offices: Using Design Psychology to Create Better Workplaces

Mindful Offices: Using Design Psychology to Create Better Workplaces

Transitioning from a traditional office to an open office environment that fosters collaboration and mobility can be challenging. The Internet is loaded with articles about organizations opening up innovative colorful spaces that have touchdown stations, huddle rooms, phone booths, and even amenities such as coffee bars, office slides, and ping-pong tables. But I am often curious as to whether these offices provide a real connection to the employees versus a trendy design fad that is solely intended to make the workplaces seem cool. It is precisely this deeper connection that design psychology can provide when creating new workplaces.

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Office design crimes: What goes wrong when companies upgrade

Office design crimes: What goes wrong when companies upgrade

A Ping-Pong table and W hotel-style furnishings don't guarantee that an office is a meaningful space for employees. Office design crimes can take many forms — from too-bright lighting to squeezing employees into a too-small space. But mistakes can go deeper than furniture and carpet, even as firms devote money to upgrade their surroundings. CannonDesign principal and design leader Robert Benson shared a few design crimes he's encountered when working with companies to build their offices.

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THE WORKPLACE COOLNESS TRAP

THE WORKPLACE COOLNESS TRAP

When consulting on workplace design strategies, especially for the next generation-workforce, our clients usually have read the latest articles and have compared their existing workplace to Google. They wonder how to achieve cutting-edge trends in their own facilities. But sometimes this can't be further from a beneficial workplace strategy.

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The avocado hypothesis explains why we will always work in offices

The avocado hypothesis explains why we will always work in offices

People have been talking about the death of the office for at least a quarter of a century. Leaving aside the often misleading conflation of flexible working with homeworking that is often involved, the underlying premise of such talk has been the same for all of that time. The main argument is, and always was, that there is an alternative to the tedium, aggravation and expense of travelling to an office solely to work inside its hermetically sealed and fluorescent-lit, blue-carpeted interior alongside people who can drive you spare, before you schlep home again. The problem with the argument is that, in spite of its evident drawbacks, office life maintains an attraction for both employers and employees and there will always be an upper limit on how long people want to spend home alone. Things are changing but the death of the office is a myth.

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The Value of Designing Healthy Workplaces

The Value of Designing Healthy Workplaces

Unhealthy workplaces are not only depressing to behold, they constitute a significant financial strain. Research indicates that healthy employees are three times more productive than unhealthy employees. It’s estimated that employers can lose up to $4,600 of productivity gains per work year as a result of health-related absenteeism, and this number does not account for workers who are present but unable to perform at a high level due to poor working conditions.

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The role of workplace design in employee engagement

The role of workplace design in employee engagement

A great deal of current research and anecdotal evidence suggests that engaged employees are much less likely to leave their current organisation, are more productive and take less sick days that their disengaged colleagues. But according to a recent survey by Deloitte while 87 percent of organisations cite culture and engagement as one of their top challenges, almost two-thirds of executives do not feel they are effectively driving this desired culture within their business. A global study by my own firm Steelcase found that one-third of workers across 17 of the world’s most important economies are actually disengaged. The findings make worrying reading for employers around the world, as engagement is so demonstrably linked to business critical outcomes such as employee retention, productivity and even profits. It certainly raises the question of what more can be done, including in terms of workplace design, to boost engagement levels amongst these employees.

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How Meeting Rooms Can Transform Companies

How Meeting Rooms Can Transform Companies

When we think about the evolution of office spaces, our minds often go to recent innovations: shared workspaces, open floor plans and increased worker mobility. But meeting rooms, too, have kept up with the pace of change. More than just a space that offers the obligatory long table, today’s conference room boasts video conferencing tools, well-designed furniture and interactive whiteboards. These conference rooms can be key locations where employees can innovate, collaborate and inspire. In a business environment where space is at a premium, every room has to be thoughtfully designed. Oftentimes, this means creating more small meeting rooms as opposed to investing in large boardrooms. After all, 59 percent of meetings involve only two to three people. In other workspaces, it may mean creating flexible, multipurpose areas that can be sectioned with moveable walls.

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3 ways workplace design can empower staff and engage clients

3 ways workplace design can empower staff and engage clients

In today’s highly competitive business climate, companies of all scales, sizes and maturity levels need to maximize the return on investment (ROI) they are pulling from their workplaces. Clearly, workplace ROI means different things to different organizations. For fast growth companies with highly mobile staff, they may need a workplace that infuses adaptable, technology-rich environments so people can do their work whenever and however they need. For organizations that bring clients into their offices frequently, creating a space that communicates brand and leaves an impression is key.

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