Brown James' New Ways of Working. The new paradigm - Work anywhere, anytime (and not everywhere, all the time).
Work is becoming a thing you do, not a place you go to. Your car, your home, your office, even your client's office. Work alone, coupled, teamed. Work in real space or in cyberspace. Technology makes telecommuting a way of doing business that satisfies strategic goals of spending more time with clients/customers.
We have observed three emerging key trends:
1. Minimise
The design of the office of the future is rushing simultaneously in two directions: One is reorganising the space of employees who must still work in offices. The other is pushing everyone else out the door, and put money into information networks and other technologies that can boost remote efficiency and effectiveness. This cuts back on office fitout. No design for design's sake architectural forms or status symbols, just real functionality delivered through clever design.
2. New educational models
It has been recognised that the real Zen moments in business and learning occur in informal meetings. That is why investment is now in quality public spaces. Universities recognise that much of the educational benefit is not derived from the course itself, but from the informal discussions and even chance encounters that occur on campus in the public spaces. So why not utilise this principle in your business - encourage staff to interact by providing corridors that are deliberately wide. Front these avenues with lounges where workers can stop for a quick chat over a fresh coffee or juice. Productivity improves because data sharing is immediate, and higher-quality decisions are made faster. Things get accomplished more quickly. The avenue may also incorporate a dry cleaner pickup, a shoe-repair shop, and a cafeteria that prepares food that employees can take home at night. This helps dual-career families while boosting productivity.
3. Flexibility and mobility
Space may be defined by furniture or suspended pull-away curtains or walls that is reconfigured according to its use on the day. Furniture styles once projected an image of stability. Now furniture features large wheels, which speaks directly to the need for flexibility.
Sustainable Design Current issues for tenants 2007
It is expected that in the near future, building owners will require tenants signing leases to comply with environmentally sustainable practices so as not to downgrade the credentials of green buildings. The typical high rise building is but a container for a churn of fitouts and refits over its lifecycle - the fitouts will amount to the most significant users of environmental resources as well as cost. Tenants must engage sentient designers who embrace best practice measures for fitout and who are aware of their responsibility in not only making a difference through their selection of materials and processes, which in the end add up to creating a healthy workplace for the staff.
Green Star - Office Interiors Rating Tool http://www.gbcaus.org/
Green Star is the Green Building Council of Australia’s rating tool, designed to assess the environmental impact of buildings, encouraging initiatives that reduce that impact. The initial focus of Green Star has been on office buildings. Within the ‘Office’ category there are four tools, each reflecting a different phase in the building lifecycle (design, construction, occupancy and ownership).
Sustainable Growth – Interface, Inc http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/14/sustaing.html
An interesting article on one man's quest to make a profitable company which is engaged in re-using waste. Ray Anderson of Interface Inc. points the way to high profitability and zero waste -- a future that merges economic growth with social responsibility. This article appears in the US web-based journal Fastcompany.
Sustainable Products for a Sustainable Planet Download the PDF
In the 1980s the Environmental Protection Agency urged everyone to reduce, reuse, recycle, in that order. Click on this link to view a PDF article presented by the US furniture manufacturer. The company is making real it’s commitment to sustainable design by utilising the philosophy of re-use and recycling in their new products.
Offices of future must get green light http://theage.com.au/articles/2005/03/22/1111254020527.html
As several Melbourne projects, including AXA Asia Pacific's new Southbank base, look to achieve a four-star energy rating with the Green Building Council of Australia, developer Peter Szental says the commercial property industry still needs to do more to reduce greenhouse gas emission.
