September 22, 2015

John Fogarty reflects on a career in office furniture spanning five decades ⁰

by John Fogarty • Comment, Furniture, Workplace design

I was lucky to enter the office furniture industry in 1971, at the beginning of a decade shaped by the explosive advent of new office technology. What had gone before would not have looked that different to anyone who’d worked a corporate office in the 1890s: serried ranks of desks occupied by clerical staff bashing away on manual typewriters and comptometers (calculating machines). Although electric typewriters had been around for most of the century, decades of global conflict had constrained their development. The first major advance came with the launch of the IBM Selectric golf-ball in 1961. Although a beautiful object – I recall this being the first item associated in my mind with the term ‘product design’ by a named designer (Eliot Noyes) – it remained expensive and rare until the price reductions driven by the multi-licensing in 1972 of the Diablo daisy-wheel print head. More →

September 19, 2015

Quiet at work + Office design and conflict + The on-demand revolution ⁰

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, Furniture, Newsletter, Wellbeing, Workplace

In this week’s issue; Dan Callegari lists ten unusual ways to ensure peace and privacy in the workplace; Sara Bean says senior executives are unaware of the effects of ‘change fatigue’ in their organisations; and Mark Eltringham notes a growing acceptance of sit/stand furniture as a standard workstation option. In news; the results of a new study which found men and women are likely to react differently to specific types of office layout; the introduction of the revised version of one of the world’s most popular environmental standards and SMEs fail to embrace effective wellbeing programmes, despite appreciating their role in future growth. And why is there a growing dread of the influx of the latest generation Z into the workplace? Check out our new events page, subscribe for free quarterly issues of Work&Place and weekly news here., You can follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

August 13, 2015

Take-up of sit-stand desks still lagging in UK, but change is coming fast ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Furniture, News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

The number of UK employers offering staff sit-stand workstations remains sluggish, despite rapidly growing awareness of their benefits, according to a new study from office furniture firm Kinnarps. Compared to the near universal provision of sit-stand desks in Scandinavia, and in spite of the fact that UK buyers now universally acknowledge what they can do to improve employee wellbeing, the UK market has yet to fully adopt workstations that encourage more active working. Based on a study of 132 senior decision makers, facilities managers, designers and HR managers, 98 percent of respondents say they can see the attraction of introducing sit-stand working, citing improved health (73 percent), increased productivity (11 percent) and attracting and retaining talent (5 percent), among the principal benefits. Yet only 8 percent say that such workstations are ‘widely available’ in their workplaces. More →

June 30, 2015

Settings, silence, serendipity, wellbeing and other lessons from Neocon

by Paul Goodchild • Comment, Events, Furniture, Workplace design

The trick with visits to exhibitions like Neocon, the huge office design event which has just wrapped up in Chicago, is to stay focussed on the wood as much as the trees. So as well as identifying new products, you can also work out the themes pursued by the exhibitors and organisers which are invariably based on the ideas they are currently discussing with their clients. The show becomes a microcosm of what is happening in the outside world. At this year’s Neocon, some of the most readily identifiable themes included the dissipation of the workplace, the creation of work settings, privacy, ergonomics, wellbeing and serendipity. With the possible exception of the age old problem of ergonomics, these all relate to our changing relationship with work and workplaces, not least how we can work from anywhere and what this means both functionally and aesthetically. More →

June 28, 2015

The latest issue of Insight weekly is now available for you online

by Sara Bean • Architecture, Environment, Facilities management, Furniture, Newsletter, Work&Place, Workplace design

In this week’s issue; Mark Eltringham on the challenge for FMs in managing buildings not of their own making; and why Charles Eames came to tire of his association with his famous lounge chair. Douglas Langmead explains how the patterns of work and place in the Middle East evolved differently from the west and Lee Parsons warns that not enough thought is given to creating workspaces that support knowledge circulation. We provide a gallery of the winners of this year’s RIBA awards; the CIPD and BIFM identify ways the office environment influence workplace performance, construction begins on the UK’s “greenest commercial building” and new DOH guidelines on creating a productive and healthy workplace. Subscribe for free quarterly issues of Work&Place and for weekly news via the subscription form in the right hand sidebar, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

June 21, 2015

The latest issue of Insight Weekly is available to view online

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, Furniture, Newsletter, Wellbeing, Workplace design

In this week’s issue; Dan Callegari argues the importance of creating a working environment that is inherently flexible enough to meet the needs of everybody; and Mark Eltringham lists the award winning products from the recent Neocon workplace design convention in Chicago. A new US report finds Generation Y isn’t as tech savvy as it’s made out to be; Regus research discovers many workers are afraid that working from home will mean they grow lonely, overweight and stale; and muscular skeletal problems and mental ill health remain the main causes of workplace absence. In London, a new kind of workplace is unveiled as part of the London Festival of Architecture; an office built around a tree. Subscribe for free quarterly issues of Work&Place and for weekly news via the subscription form in the right hand sidebar, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

June 16, 2015

Back pain and mental ill health still the main reasons for workplace absence

by Sara Bean • Furniture, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Back pain and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) remain the prime reason for long-term workplace absence (38%); with stress and mental-health disorders the main cause of absence for one in four companies. However, the results of the UK’s largest business survey on sickness absence published by EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation and Jelf Employee Benefits reveals that stress and mental illness is regarded as the most difficult form of absence to make workplace adjustments for, with almost a third of companies saying this is the case. Furthermore, a third of employers said that they do not have approaches for managing mental-health-related long-term absence. Just one in ten companies provides training for line managers in mental-health issues and only 2 percent of companies have an open mental-health disclosure policy, suggesting business matches society in finding it a difficult issue to address. More →

June 8, 2015

FIRA announces winners of competition to design the workplace of the future

by Mark Eltringham • Furniture, News, Products, Technology, Workplace design

The judges of a design competition which challenged undergraduates to share their ideas for a workplace of the future have announced the three winners. The ‘FUTURE@WORK’ competition was run by the Furniture Industry Research Association (FIRA) and sponsored by contract furniture firm Morgan. Winners of first, second and third prize were chosen from four shortlisted entries. The designs were subject to a public vote which took place at Morgan’s showroom throughout Clerkenwell Design Week and on FIRA’s website. The winner of the first prize and the public vote is Familiar Systems, a piece of technology which aims to replace the computer screen. The device was designed by Jack Darby and Andy Lyell, is based on drone technology and incorporates a projector and a pivoted support known as a gimble which allows the user to work in a variety of locations and configurations. More →

June 6, 2015

The latest issue of Insight Weekly is available to view online

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Furniture, Newsletter, Property, Technology, Work&Place

In this week’s issue; employees advised to spend up to half of each day working while standing. Paul Robathan’s views on the loosening of the bonds that link work with place are backed up by a new report that says work will be something workers do, not a place to which they commute; and Mark Eltringham explains why designers and manufacturers continue to launch more sophisticated and better chairs. Plans for the tallest office building outside of London are submitted to Birmingham City Council; CIBSE, the BCIA and the Building Futures Group collaborate to ‘kick-start the future of FM in the UK; and only 3 percent of European employees say their workplace is suitable for collaborative work. Subscribe for free quarterly issues of Work&Place and for weekly news via the subscription form in the right hand sidebar, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

June 2, 2015

Workers should spend half of each day working while standing, claims report

by Mark Eltringham • Furniture, News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

A new study published yesterday in the British Journal of Sports Medicine claims that office workers spend far too much time sitting, are suffering from a range of conditions and illnesses as a result and so should be encouraged to spend up to half of each working while standing. The report, The sedentary office: a growing case for change towards better health and productivity, was commissioned by Public Health England and claims that our present sedentary working lives can lead directly to conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Mirroring the findings of other studies, the report also claims that we cannot fully mitigate these effects with exercise outside of work and need to address our working habits each day instead. The report argues that there is a “strong case” for changing the designs of offices and workstations, for example, by offering standing desks. More →

June 2, 2015

Five of the most noticeable ways your office has got it in for you

by Justin Miller • Comment, Furniture, Lighting, Wellbeing, Workplace design

If you believed surveys and the news they generate you would soon come to regard the modern workplace as something of a death trap. Now this is somewhat misleading because statistically the most dangerous professions are still far and away those such as agriculture, forestry and construction which employ people in the open air, doing what used to be considered the core functions of work, namely making things, destroying things or moving them from one place to another. Nowadays most of us are in no danger of being hurt by this sort of work. But we can come to harm in the office and your workplace has it in for you in a number of ways. But, as opposed to truly dangerous jobs, it’s unlikely you will be caught out by surprise and there are plenty of things you can do to ensure you not only come to no harm at work but can find ways to become more productive and healthy. Here are just a few examples: More →

May 25, 2015

Clerkenwell Design Week explores the links between design and the individual

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Events, Flooring, Furniture, Workplace design

For a show with such an international perspective there are many aspects of Clerkenwell Design Week that mark it out as a typically British event. There’s the weather, of course, which can vary from day to day between drizzle and bright sunshine, marking the difference between visitors dodging showers and huddling in showrooms or spilling out onto the pavements to drink beer and talk turkey. Then there’s the very idea of Clerkenwell itself, a district in East London historically associated with the arts and crafts movements, dodgy dealings, immigrant artisans and labourers and the sort of denuded former glories that those with the right mindset like to appropriate and reinvent. London may exist as a City State within the UK, but it also provides the beating heart for many nationwide industries. For the UK office interiors industry that heart can be found in Clerkenwell. More →