By Katie Pace and Rebecca Charbauski
November 25, 2019
This podcast is episode 4 of a 5-part series all about the open office. More specifically in this episode, they focus on what people want out of their workspaces because we see these fancy offices popping up, yet you don't see people there. They also mention special guests from various companies who will contribute to the episode.
The first guest is Mary Elaine Roush, who takes designs to reality. She was asked how she designs spaces for people that are away from their desks in other areas of the office. She said that they used surveys, multiple observations and sensor data to determine the drive behind the use of these other areas in the office. And from these, they found six main patterns. People were using these open-concept spaces for:
1- Task-oriented amenities
2- Surfaces to work on
3- Power for long term productivity
4- Privacy
5- Permissions to use the space as their own
6- Context – one concept that works in one area, may fail in another
The framework Mary Elaine and her team use includes privacy, posture, proximity, and personality. The perfect combination of these can create psychological comfort and productivity. Psychological comfort means that people feel comfortable to be themselves and share their ideas when in a collaborative space. Mary Elaine takes two approaches to design a new space. The first is when she starts from scratch. She starts off by evaluating the work behaviour that the company wants to support, followed by going through her 4 principles. The second approach is going to see these pre-existing spaces to see which are being used and which aren’t and why.
The next guest is Brian Shapland the General Manager of Ancillary Partnerships. His job is working with companies that bring unique elements to the table, in order to elevate these office spaces.
He first talks about a new brand they have partnered with, MOOOI, which sells lighting, carpets, furniture and accessories. He describes their collection as extraordinarily beautiful. The owner of the brand, Martien Valentijn, says they are able to print any colour they want on their carpets allowing for all the creative freedom they desire. Their approach is to include flooring, lighting, wallpaper etc. from the very early stages of planning a space, rather than at the end like old school thinking.
The second brand he speaks about is Bolia and how this brand designs for the five senses. Lars Lyse Hansen, Bolia’s CEO says they came up with a sound, feel, and fragrance for the brand and built it from there. He says the company is half design and half tech – they are always looking to improve things with the use of technology.
Next, they talk about Extremis, which makes furniture for the outdoors, but is also functional indoors. The CEO of Extremis, Dirk Wynants, likes to call their products “tools of togetherness”, as they are meant to bring people together. They start creating their products based on why the furniture is needed, how can it improve a space or what problem should it solve. This is done to avoid designing for an aesthetic, but instead for an actual purpose and maintaining sustainability.
The final company they discuss is West Elm. They spoke with Paulo Kos, President of Work and Contract Design. He goes on to say that they have this strong connection to their customers through social media, store interactions as well as online purchases. They are in constant communication, which provides them with continuous feedback. Currently, their focus is how the office and home workspace are melting together and how some designs work in both spaces while others do not.
Once again, this podcast would be suitable for many workplaces. It has a unique take on some concepts that have already been discussed in previous posts. I think maybe this focused less on the setup of workstations and spaces, but rather on the details in the spaces. The decor, lighting, flooring, personality and atmosphere of the space and how these elements help productivity and collaboration.
I found this podcast really interesting. I love that they spoke with creators of office decor and designs. I was engrossed in listening to their methodology to creating these items, especially Dirk from Extremis. The way his company comes up with designs is super unique and it really shows that they know what they're doing. The fact that they don't just want to create products for the sake of it, but to actually solve problems or improve current situations is inspiring. I do wish this was a video though so I could actually see their collections (instead I had to keep pausing and googling).
Pace, K., & Charbauski, R. (2019, November 25). Podcast: Designing shared spaces in open offices. Steelcase. Retrieved from https://www.steelcase.com/research/openofficetruth-podcast-ep4-fix-whats-wrong-hottest-office-trend/.
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