Tons of articles, surveys and speculation are flying around the world right now about the potential death of the office. There seem to be endless arguments to both sides and I get to talk about them daily with clients and colleagues. The article below explains the true needs for office space better than any article I’ve … Continue reading The Chemistry of the Unexpected
I’m adding to my narrative two weeks ago (click here to read) on the effects of open office plans. Today is not about the science but rather the complaining and emotional impact on employees after moving to open office space. I’m not taking a side, rather just piling on more information from two weeks ago. Workers … Continue reading Piling On
In my ongoing effort to explore both sides of the open office vs. traditional office debate, here are some thoughts based on science. The Journal of Environmental Psychology jumped into the fray and came out with a huge study (40k+ workers and over 300 companies). What did they find out? — Closed offices outperformed open … Continue reading Open Plans Kill Productivity
Exposed ceilings are all the rage, but users pay a price for this look. Most of our clients think it’s less expensive to just demo the ceiling and have a cool open space. Not so fast. Here are some of the additional costs that come with an exposed ceiling: – Re-running electrical cabling and HVAC … Continue reading Exposed Ceilings Are Cool But Not Cheap
There is such freedom in working remotely. But, as is the case with everything, there is a dark side. People who get to work remotely have flexibility and save time from not having to commute. But are these benefits worth the stress? Remote workers also deal with the following: – Feeling disconnected from their team. And … Continue reading Working Remotely
In our ongoing discussion about the future of office space, here is a nice stat: In this cycle, office space users have been taking approximately ½ of the space they took as they grew in the last cycle. We know why—open office, the explosion of the tech companies and shared space environment and all the … Continue reading The “Coffice”
Every year, we share the most innovative offices from around the world (and a few from our own clients). Below is our list from 2017. First, you get a few of the best clients we were fortunate enough to work with this past year. We can hold our own here in the Valley of the … Continue reading World’s Coolest Offices 2017
Sustainability is a huge priority for many in commercial real estate these days. The movement towards green, sustainable buildings has opened the doors for new innovations. The below article highlights a building in Amsterdam that received the highest score for sustainability in the world from BREEAM, the world’s leading assessment for sustainable buildings. Even more exciting for … Continue reading World’s Smartest Building
Workspace design continues to be a hot topic. Last week, I talked about the huge issues that come with open design that we are now discussing with all of our clients. Below my comments is an infographic on a survey that Cort Furniture compiled on workplace trends. I follow it up with a bonus article on how designers are … Continue reading Boosting Productivity in the Office
Yes, open office is all the rage. But there is fallout (as I get older, I can now see there is good and bad in literally everything). Below is a contrarian view on the whole open office collaborative space perspective. Around 70% of all offices are now building open office environments. And with all this openness comes … Continue reading The Open Office Trap