Steelcase
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The grand design
Design Exchange Forum offers tips for planning the modern office space
Designing an office space in today’s high-tech work world is no small challenge. From finding the right furniture and laying it out, to assessing your building’s infrastructure and figuring out what you’re going to do with the seemingly endless miles of spaghetti-like wiring snaking its way through the walls, the process seems nothing short of daunting.
With that in mind the first in a series of office planning forums known as the Design Exchange was held last month at Forrer Business Interiors in Glendale.
Sponsored by Forrer and Steelcase, a Michigan-based office design company, the theme of the program, "Buildings, Furniture, and Technology," offered examples of how companies are blending those three elements together for both new and existing spaces.
"The point of this is to look at how different solutions can come together and be synergistic," says Dave Benson, the key presenter at the program and manager of technical sales support at Steelcase. "A business needs to be able to make good building decisions, good technology decisions, and good furniture design layout decisions that play off one another to produce a better space at the end of the day."
Planning ahead
Bringing those elements together is no easy trick, however. Benson notes that the best way to start is early in the planning phase. By putting together a diverse buying committee made up of various company departments, Benson explains that needless complications can often be avoided.
"As a result of getting together earlier in the process, buying committees made up of more than just a purchasing agent and a facilities manager can more effectively address the issues that are important to them," says Benson. "This is a trend that I see happening all over the place."
Another key element Benson addresses is layout flexibility. With power, data and communication devices an ever-present part of the business environment, Benson notes that companies that allow for the expansion of their technology from the standpoint of a properly planned interior design will be much better off in the long run. "Everybody today is in a pretty wired environment and it is my particular personal feeling that a connected, wired environment is going to be around for quite a while," Benson maintains. "The important issue is to build the right type of interior architecture so that you have access wherever you need it to voice and data and power."
By way of example, Benson describes the installation of cellular decks and raised architectural floors as being some of the ways companies are dealing with the need for technological growth. While the cellular deck allows wiring to be run through a cross-section of the flooring in steel-pan cells accessible through metal cast inserts, the raised floor offers six to 18 inches of space underneath it for access to power and data.
"The raised floor allows you to put any type of power and data under there. You can run water lines; you can run HVAC systems under it. And some will submit that putting an HVAC system under the floor is the better place to put it from a thermal standpoint in terms of how it cools space," says Benson, who adds that that option has become more popular in the last 10 years. "Today I see people in the IT department really pushing for this type of architectural element so that you can easily go in and manage technology and power distribution systems."
Designing your office space
Offices are, of course, made up of more than cables and wires and so require the human touch to keep their occupants happy and healthy. David Schlapman, vice-president of sales and marketing at Forrer Business Interiors, notes that as employers compete for employees in today’s tight job market, the physical environment of an office plays a key role in bringing in new people.
"Assuming compensation is competitive with the general marketplace, the office environment can have a huge impact on whether you can attract and retain quality employees," says Schlapman, who also notes the effect that the right environment can have on actual work performance. "It’s tough to measure, but if people can be properly equipped and be comfortable as well as having the right kind of seating and ergonomic tools, they will be more productive."
As far as trends go, Schlapman notes that the use of glass and skylights to bring in natural light are becoming more popular with office designers. Also popular are customizable workstations that allow employees to make subtle modifications to better support the way that they work.
