The open workplan format is facing no small amount of scrutiny lately as a creativity killer. Among the most recent sources of controversy is the publication of new book, “QUIET: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking,” whose author, Susan Cain, posits that the open workplan may be stifling creativity.
Fortunately, advocates have Paul Wheeler to defend the cause (or at least to define it properly).
On Monday morning, BBC Radio’s Vanessa Feltz dedicated a portion of her program to an interview with Susan Firth, occupational psychologist, who challenges the open work model, citing the noise, interruptions, and spotty concentration associated with large, partionless spaces. All of these, she says, contribute significantly to reduced productivity and raised stress. The interview raises a critical question: Is the open workplace concept merely a perceived good, passing, unchallenged, from one real estate executive to another because it is cost efficient?
Enter HOK’s Paul Wheeler, who, as Workplace Strategist, spends his days helping corporations create innovative new approaches to working. BBC Radio invited Paul to join the program as an opposing view.
Paul, however, agreed.
The open workplan can indeed be distracting and noisy, he says.  The problem is in assuming that a collaborative workplace must look (and function) like a warehouse full of desks. As designers, architects and consultants, says Wheeler, we need to listen very carefully to what clients and their end users are asking for… and then help them figure out what they actually need to work productively. In his call to [...]

Competition.  We all know that word, whether in terms of projects we’re trying to win or our favorite basketball team.  And we can probably agree that a healthy amount of competition can be a good thing – drives us forward, causes us to focus, challenges us, and introduces us to new ideas.  Well, how about when one of your biggest competitors (ahem…SOM) wins a competition to design a new “Silicon Valley” in New York City?  How does THAT make you feel? 
In late 2011, Cornell University and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology – with SOM and Field Operations (designed the High Line in NYC) – won a competition run by NYC’s administrative office under Michael Bloomberg to repurpose a portion of Roosevelt Island.  The winning proposal included 2.5 million square feet total, with technology focused on NYC-centric industries such as medicine, finance, and advertising, and endowments for start-up companies.  What is particularly attractive about the campus, however, is that the proposal centered the 2,500-student academic institution around central “hubs” (see Fast Company for the animations of the space) and expansive, open areas organized by interest, not by discipline, to foster the exchange of ideas.  Polish it off with interwoven public spaces to serve the academic and general population and a net-zero goal for each of the academic buildings, and you have a pretty great recipe.  Or, at least one good enough to garner the attention of Bloomberg anc Cornell alumni alike. 
Understanding how people work, how ideas are shared, and how environments affect the [...]

Just a quick video to make you smile today: Steve Hargis inspires corporate real estate folks as part CoreNet’s Corporate Real Estate 2020 initiative:

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I sit in an open plan office (there are only five enclosed offices in our entire building – for the president of the company, director of marketing, director of ops, comptroller, and HR – that’s roughly 3% of the work spaces). From my desk, I have a lovely view of lots of other people, as well as out a big glass window overlooking the C&O canal.  You can’t see the canal from my seat – you have to actually walk over to the window…but, you do see plenty of birds smash into the window.
Our own Leigh Stringer contributed to an article in the Wall Street Journal: Indecent Exposure: The Downsides of Working in a Glass Office.  The article shares the many benefits of highly open offices (including those with glass-walled conference rooms and glass-walled offices), as well as some of the downsides.  Known by some as the fishbowl factor, Leigh takes it another step and shares about people actually walking into glass walls.  Never have I seen this happen, but I’m not denying it.  Hey, I was walking my dog the other day and ran into a telephone pole.  My take: if you can’t figure out there’s a wall (or telephone pole) there, maybe Darwin is trying to tell you something…
Regardless – there are ups and downs to very open and open-looking offices.  I think with the appropriate mix of some “private” rooms and lots of open plan, there is a balance that allows for collaboration, concentration, and the occasional cocktail [...]

When you hear the word “Deltek” mentioned at HOK, the first thing that pops to mind isn’t always the accounting/time software we all know so well…it’s usually the great new project that’s about to open.  Deltek is moving their headquarters into a new facility, complete with HOK-designed interiors. Yes, some of your favorite Work+Place bloggers are behind this design (Catherine Haley and Daphne Kiplinger).
What is it about Deltek’s new space that’s so special?   One of the many features is Deltek’s commitment to an open office – even the CEO will be seated in open plan workstations. Check out an article in today’s Washington Post (Deltek Consolidates into New Herndon Office) , or view a few preview photos in our Flickr set below:

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Lately I can’t seem to escape discussions about wellness in the workplace. In the past few weeks I’ve received several wellness related articles  from colleagues, witnessed real life issues onsite with clients and helped kick off a firm wide wellness initiative in my own firm. There are definitely enough issues surrounding this topic to turn this into a series of posts, but for now I will focus on sitting and walking in the workplace.
A colleague recently sent me these great infographics: Sitting is Killing You, highlighting some interesting statistics on the detriments of sitting for prolonged periods of time, fueling the argument to get up and walk around throughout the day. Personally, I hate the idea of sitting at a desk all day. I jump at any chance to walk across the office to talk with a colleauge. Not only does it add a few extra steps to my day, but often I can be more productive by engaging with a coworker face-to-face as opposed to long email chains which I’ll eventually have to go back and delete when cleaning out my inbox.

Adding to this discussion, HOK recently launced on Facebook what we are hoping to be The World’s Largest Workplace Survey. This is a great open forum to provide input on how well or not-so-well your workplace is performing. Join the dicussion by taking the survey here. The chart below shows some recent realtime survey results, indicating that an overwhelming amount of people complain about some physical discomfort in the workplace.

And in [...]

I was reading the Washington Post Express this morning and happened upon the most fabulous photograph:

This urban cowboy is competing in the third annual German office chair race championship in Bad Koenig-Zell, Germany. HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS FABULOUS EVENT?! 
Apparently this annual event brings Europeans together to celebrate work and speed (some racers get up to 35 km/hr..that’s about 22 mph for those of you Imperial unit users).  This year’s race was won by Luxembourger Pierre Feller.
Rules:

200 meter dash downhill
Propelled by hands and feet
No motorized chairs
Adaptations to chairs permitted

I wonder if HOK would like to sponsor one of us to race next year??  I have an Herman Miller Aeron that’s a bit too big – perhaps I could strip it down and make it into an aerodynamic racing machine. Or maybe the JDRF Real Estate Games could change up their events?
More great photos of the race here , here, here, and here, or watch on YouTube here.

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Are you curious about what other offices throughout the world look like?  Do you sometimes wish you could sneak into another company’s workplace and see how they operate on a daily basis?   If so, I’ve got good news for you: Enter wovox, a new website devoted to just that…discovering workplaces!

I stumbled upon wovox recently, and have really enjoyed snooping around.  Anyone can post photos to the site—companies and individuals alike—which gives it a neat range of workplaces from all over the world, from tiny home offices to huge global corporations, and hundreds in between!  To give you an idea of the breadth of spaces, there are posts from McDonald’s Australian headquarters, the Smithsonian in DC, Cubion (a Danish consulting firm), Adobe’s office in San Francisco, Groupon’s Amsterdam office, and even one from the Quayside Fish Market in Doha, Qatar.
Here in the design industry, we get a fair amount of exposure to the latest design and workplace trends, but there are still infinite spaces that we’d never have been able to see before wovox came onto the scene.

So if you are looking for some fresh design inspiration (or want see if the carpet really is greener on the other side of the world), then check it out.  Happy workplace snooping!

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What happens when a company gets too big to be an exclusively virtual company?
I recently came across an article on inc.com: 4 Tips on Managing a Virtual Workforce, which featured Michael Sappington, CEO of gloStream, a company that provides software solutions for electronic medical records. In the piece, Michael notes some of the obstacles to maintaining a virtual environment as his compnay grows as well as the decision to move to physical office space.
I recently had the opportunity to interview Michael to dive deeper into the pros and cons his company is seeing as they transition from a virtual office to a physical office. Michael was gracious enough to answer my four questions below.
1. As your company grows and you shift your strategy related to flexible work hours and a virtual workforce, have you encountered any personnel issues with new ways of working and, if so, how are you managing this change to keep employees happy and engaged?
Overall, the shift from a virtual electronic medical records company to one operating out of a physical office has gone very, very well. Our team members have welcomed the change and they are much more productive since they can find each other and quickly meet face-to-face, instead of having to spend time tracking each other down before finding a time for a meeting. Our team members are happy to be in an office and really excited about our new work environment.
2. What workplace trends (i.e. technology, furniture, new ways of working) do you feel [...]

I recently had the opportunity to write a guest blog for Virtual Office. The blog focuses on personalization of the workplace, and how new workplace trends could potentially limit our sense of individuality. With more and more mobile work styles emerging, and less and less people “living” at their desks in a traditional 9-to-5, forty hour work week, I question whether the or not people will also start ditching all of their personal knick-knacks in favor of  more streamlined, flexible work environments. 
Check out the full blog post here: A Home Away From Home Away From Home. The blog even makes a brief Office Space reference. Enjoy.

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