Search Results for: office environment

Humanscale Summa sets new standard in ergonomic seating for executive offices and boardrooms

Humanscale Summa sets new standard in ergonomic seating for executive offices and boardrooms

Summa, an executive chair by Humanscale made for today’s dynamic leaders, is now ready to order. An effortless blend of luxury and simplicity, Summa’s defined aesthetic and sophisticated palette is well-suited to high-end executive spaces within the workplace. The executive chair has a single, discrete height-adjustment lever seamlessly designed into the seat, unlike most chairs which have multiple exposed adjustment levers. Complementing its enveloping shape and sculpted materials, Summa features Humanscale’s signature weight-compensating recline mechanism and integrated armrests for exceptional ergonomic comfort and support. More →

Office design can be a vehicle for equality and change

Office design can be a vehicle for equality and change

workplace design for inclusionThe way companies design physical environments is a direct reflection of their values and beliefs. Inequality is hardwired into the “standard” office layout, with perimeter offices and fixed desks offering limited settings for unstructured collaboration and recreation, further perpetuating the issue. Modern office design often favours extroversion and emphasises a hierarchy with values that benefit only a small portion of the overall workforce, contributing to organisation-wide imbalance. So how do we create more inclusive workplaces that can be leveraged as vehicles for change? More →

Open plan offices might improve performance of high status workers

Open plan offices might improve performance of high status workers

open plan working at the Epicenter Coworking Space in StockholmManagers may believe their star performers don’t need monitoring when working on a team and may reason that leaving the most high status workers alone in their efforts frees up more time to work closely with other team members. But research coauthored by Sebastien Brion of IESE Business School and published in Management Science Journal claims that this may be a mistake and so counterproductive and that the performance of high status workers might improve with greater visibility including that offered by open plan offices. More →

A synaesthetic approach to office design

A synaesthetic approach to office design

A colourful face to depict synaesthesia in office designSynaesthesia is a condition in which one type of sensory stimulus triggers an involuntary stimulus of another sense. Being able to hear colour or taste numbers might seem like a unique party piece, but some research indicates it’s an ability we’re all born with. More →

Many flexible office users would prefer to work in conventional space

Many flexible office users would prefer to work in conventional space

Many people would prefer conventional offices to flexible office spaceJoint-research from Gensler and the British Council of Offices (BCO) on the rise of flexible workspace in the UK corporate sector claims that 40 percent of flexible office users would rather work from a conventional office. According to the report, while the future of coworking is increasingly being explored as part of academic and industry research, there has been limited focus on what it means for large corporate occupiers. The 2019 Rise of Flexible Workspace in the Corporate Sector Report (choir members only) aims to identify the drivers of and the barriers to – the use of flexible space and coworking by large corporate occupiers. More →

The office of the future should be circular

The office of the future should be circular

The WWF Living Planet Centre gives a taste of the office of the futureMinimising the impact of business on the wider environment is no longer a ‘nice to have’ but a business imperative. Pressure is coming from all stakeholders including employees, investors, customers and clients, government and the media. According to the Leadership in Corporate Sustainability – European Report 2018, three quarters of European business leaders believe that ignoring sustainability will affect their company’s ability to create long-term value. More →

Striking the balance between the office and remote work

Striking the balance between the office and remote work

remote workOnce upon a time the concept of ‘remote working’ beyond outsourced contractors was almost unheard of. Employers viewed remote work as an opportunity for workers to be less productive, out of contact and generally more inefficient. As an employer myself, I would have agreed with these misconceptions early on in my career. However, after many years of hiring staff that either work part- or even full-time remotely, I can confidently say the myths are unfounded; even I am now more prone to remote working. More →

Office design alone cannot motivate us or make us happy at work

Office design alone cannot motivate us or make us happy at work

Office design and happinessThere’s a good reason why we find it hard to establish the causal links between our working lives, office design and our personal happiness. It’s because it’s all very complicated. So complicated in fact that you can sidetrack any discussion on the subject by asking elementary questions such as: ‘what do you mean by happy?’ or ‘should it be the role of work to make us happy?’ More →

Flexible office space transforming US commercial property sector

Flexible office space transforming US commercial property sector

An image from the CBRE report on flexible office spaceA new report from CBRE claims that the US market for flexible office space will generate significant growth over the next decade, even in the event of a recession, as flex operators consolidate and forge financial partnerships with building owners. More →

Office design hampers innovation claim workers

Office design hampers innovation claim workers

Nearly half of British employees (48 percent) don’t think the design of their workplace encourages innovation and creativity, an Oktra and YouGov survey claims. According to the report, 72 percent of employees would be more committed to or happier in a company if they felt inspired by its office design. More →

The office is increasingly able to recognise you, but will you recognise it?

The office is increasingly able to recognise you, but will you recognise it?

The office is changing in new waysOur lives at work are about to change—again. Just as the addition of PC’s and Wi-Fi re-drew the office blueprint, emerging technologies like robots, virtual agents, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT) promise to radically revise the form and the function of work and the workplace. In the near future, your office will know who you are (if it doesn’t yet) and will be ready to greet you with your preferred lighting and the array of digital tools you need to do your job.

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Office design has a role to play in reflecting neurological differences

Office design has a role to play in reflecting neurological differences

office design and neurodiversityIn recent years, we have seen a growing civil rights movement focused on change in the workplace and in terms of office design, revolving around differences in brain function. Advocates for neurodiversity say that it’s just as critical to business success as gender or racial diversity in the labour force. More →