Open Floorplan

THE OPEN PLAN OFFICE CAN SUPPORT ALL TYPES OF WORK.

Some people prefer to work at a desk while others love nothing more than a comfortable lounge seat. Things can get very complicated when you extrapolate from there, and the noise and distraction of an open plan office can cause stress and anxiety for many people. The key to appeasing different personality types, different generations and different types of work is to offer a variety of postures and places throughout your space – designing a holistic ecosystem within your work environment. That way everyone can choose the right space for the work they need to do at that moment in time.

Open Plan Slider 1

Within the open plan you can create an ecosystem of both private and collaborative spaces.

Open Plan Slider 2

Small lounge settings can be built into open workstations, creating space for informal meetings.

Open Plan Slider 3

Work cafés are multipurpose spaces, great as social hubs or casual places to collaborate.

DESIGNING OPEN SPACE AS AN ECOSYSTEM.

A “resilient workplace” offers the right blend of spaces and solutions to support the way people work. It is designed to adapt and evolve over time, offers a balance of privacy and collaboration, and fosters higher levels of employee engagement. At the same time, it optimizes real estate and supports technology.

A thoughtfully designed ecosystem of spaces supports the five key work modes: Focus, Collaborate, Learn, Socialize and Rejuvenate.

Resilient workplace

FOCUS
COLLABORATE
LEARN
SOCIALIZE
REJUVENATE

FOCUS

People need to be able to concentrate and eliminate distractions.

  • Touchdown spaces
  • Resident workstations
  • Private offices

Today, people can choose to work anywhere, anytime – and may prefer to work at home or at the local café. Creating a workplace where your valuable real estate investment is fully utilized and enjoyed is the key to bringing people together to enhance culture and community.

Too Much Noise

Too often in the open plan office more attention is paid to facilitating collaboration. The noise level, distractions and constant interruptions are causing high amounts of stress in the workplace. Planning a work space that provides areas for focus work and privacy is actually crucial to support innovation.

Too Much Noise

RELATED LINKS

Blog_Header_
March 24, 2015

Workplaces designed for innovation.

Today, we would be hard pressed to find an organization that doesn’t believe innovation is an important part of their strategic plan. Whether it’s a non-profit, higher education institution, municipality, healthcare center or corporation, finding new ways to solve problems and develop disruptive ideas is essential. While there is much conjecture as to why “innovation”…

Blog_Header2_library
October 27, 2015

Library design: Creating an ecosystem.

Like many spaces, the traditional library has undergone a dramatic shift, from a reading and storage site to a center of interactive learning. Today, libraries need to be multi-purpose, multi-dimensional, flexible, and technology focused spaces. In other words, they need to be places that can accommodate quiet seeking students and teams actively collaborating on digital projects. What’s the key to…

Blog_Header2_protocol
September 29, 2015

Top 10 office protocols for the open plan.

The open plan office needs a few guidelines to keep everyone – introverts and extroverts alike – happy. If you’re already in an open plan workspace or if you are about to be, there are office protocol that can really help keep the peace. These rules, along with some key design considerations such as creating…

LEARN MORE

STEELCASE 360 MAGAZINE
Building Wellbeing into the Workplace		 STEELCASE 360 MAGAZINE
Power of Place		 PROJECT PROFILE
T3 Advisors