Confronting A Complicated Concept - The Open-Office Blues
The office layout plays a critical role. That’s why there’s such a thing as the open-office blues. Architects and designers work to tailor the concept to individual client needs.
Author:George EvansSep 03, 202415.6K Shares256.7K Views
Are you familiar with the open-office blues?
In the beginning, there was the open office and it was not good, a fact that may have been overshadowed by the subsequent discontent surrounding the cubicles that replaced it.
To be fair, yesterday’s open office, with its rows of uniform desks, bears little relationship to today’s free-form open-office concept except perhaps for its lack of barriers.
The prevailing office zeitgeist is notably different.
The old open office more closely resembled an elementary school classroom in which talking and passing notes was frowned upon, whereas today’s open office - in theory - encourages bubbly, impromptu collaboration and creativity.
That theory is contradicted by much that has been written recently.
There’s a crisis of privacy, a quiet revolution, the death of the desk, the dissolution of the work week, and sitting is the new smoking, we’re told.
Disgruntled open-office workers have unleashed enough adverse reviews to rival Scott Adams’ entire career of Dilbert-themed commentary on the discontents of cubicle life.
The Seemingly Mundane But All-Important Cubicle
Speaking of cubicles, the experience of Herman Miller (in Zeeland, Michigan) designer Robert Propst (1921-2000), who is credited, or blamed, for the cubicle, proves that things don’t always turn out as planned.
His Action Office, an open-plan panel system introduced in the 1960s, was supposed to set workers free, offering them autonomy and independence by replacing the uniform rows of desks, where most workers toiled.
In the hands of unimaginative, cost-conscious corporations and knock-off furniture manufacturers, Propst’s idea morphed into the Dilbert cubicles everyone loves to hate, a wasteland in its own right, not unlike the regimented space Propst endeavored to change.
It is no surprise that he was distressed by the uniform rows of fabric-covered boxes that evolved from his concept.
The dissatisfaction engendered by the relative isolation cubicle dwellers, perhaps, prompted a swing back to the open office environment.
Open offices were embraced by those who thought some modular components and lower partition heights would foster collaboration and greater creativity.
This was fed by images of Silicon Valley tech offices where everyone was hip and eager to share every detail of his or her office life as freely as they shared details of their personal lives through social media.
While this attitude may have had some basis in reality in Silicon Valley, many cubicle dwellers of a different age and culture did not agree. Thrust into a poorly executed open-office environment, they found they missed the relative privacy of their once-maligned fabric boxes.
Indeed, office workers, designers, and office-furniture manufacturers appear to be pushing back in opposition to the no-holds-barred, no-secrets open-office environment.
Office furniture maker Steelcase in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in a company publication, persuasively writes about the privacy crisis, invoking Susan Cain’s New York Times bestseller, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking (2012), to bolster its case.
The book explores the behavior of introverts, making the case that a high percentage of office workers may be classified as introverts to one degree or another, and the over-exposure and over-stimulation of the open office decreases productivity and creativity among these individuals.
Statistics confirm what many have suspected about today’s office. Shrinking workspaces and a loss of privacy are not imagined.
Today an estimated 70% of office spaces in the United States have some form of open plan, according to the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) in Houston, Texas, quoted by Steelcase.
In North America, according to CoreNet Global, an Atlanta-based non-profit corporate real estate association, the amount of space allotted for each worker has decreased from an average of:
- 500 square feet (sq. ft.) per person in the 1970s
- 225 sq. ft. in 2010
- 176 sq. ft. in 2012
It’s predicted to drop as low as 100 sq. ft. by 2017.
At the same time, panel heights have gone down from a standard 5 to 6 ft. to 4 ft. or less.
In addition, based on Steelcase reports, in many offices today, panels have disappeared altogether in favor of bullpens or benching work environments, often used on a shared or “hot desking” basis versus individually assigned work stations.
According to a New Yorker article (The Open-Office Trap; January 7, 2014), organizational psychologist Matthew Davis reviewed more than a hundred studies about office environments.
He found that, although open offices may have made employees feel like a part of a laid-back, inventive business, the arrangement had adverse effects on:
- attention spans
- output
- original thinking
- general satisfaction
Office architects/designers tell of a similar unintended result: when cubicle walls increased in height, noise levels in the office went up, presumably because not being able to see co-workers gave cubicle workers a false sense of privacy and they spoke more loudly.
Similarly, some accounts have suggested that conversations in an open-office setting tend to be briefer out of consideration for nearby officemates, negating the intended collaborative effect of the open office.
The competition for available conference rooms in many offices seems to confirm that employees prefer to have group discussions in a setting that won’t disturb those not involved.
Tweaking The Open Office
Criticism of the open office notwithstanding, the ideology of collaboration has not been abandoned, but it has been tempered.
Instead, the goal is to accommodate introverts and extroverts and to design space with a recognition that different tasks and cultures need different spaces to accommodate them.
Individual focus and group interaction are both valued in the current design philosophy. In other words, the open office is alive and well but is being tweaked to accommodate the individuality envisioned by Propst.
Don Kolterjahn, vice president of sales at DS&D, an interior solutions company in Somerville, New Jersey, agreed, saying:
“„There is a continued movement from the traditional office environment to a more open and collaborative environment.- Don Kolterjahn
He added:
“„Clients are also actively involving end users in the process.- Don Kolterjahn
Kolterjahn continued:
“„This has helped to create a better end-user experience and helped clients to create a balanced environment where employees can be fully supportive in the work they do.- Don Kolterjahn
He also said:
“„While workstations and private offices are still a part of the space, there are also focus rooms, which are collaborative areas supported by technology; huddle rooms; and café areas, all designed to support the way people work.- Don Kolterjahn
He concluded:
“„Clients are also utilizing sound masking systems to reduce noise.- Don Kolterjahn
Spes Mekus, principal at Mekus Tanager in Chicago, Illinois, said:
“„I’ve been doing interiors for over 40 years, and in that time the pendulum has swung back and forth, but I do believe open offices are here to stay, it’s just how it’s applied.- Spes Mekus, ASID, IIDA, IIDC, LEED AP ID+C
She continued:
“„I think it would be fair to say that totally open doesn’t necessarily work for most businesses.- Spes Mekus, ASID, IIDA, IIDC, LEED AP ID+C
Mekus explained:
“„There are myriad issues that need to be addressed depending on the type of business that you’re dealing with. For example, law offices tend to have more private offices for a valid reason, versus architecture and engineering firms that have very open offices because they are very team based.- Spes Mekus, ASID, IIDA, IIDC, LEED AP ID+C
She added:
“„The most important thing is to understand the goal and mission of the business and then to assess what mix of private and open spaces are required.- Spes Mekus, ASID, IIDA, IIDC, LEED AP ID+C
Jack Emick, president and CEO at EHS Design/EHS Architecture in Seattle, said:
“„I don’t think there is a furniture solution.- Jack Emick
He noted:
“„The creativity of the client is just as important as that of the designer. The designer’s role is listening to the problem.- Jack Emick
Emick added:
“„It’s always been that but it’s listening in a way so that you can interact with your client to a point to which you’re facilitating their needs through less conventional approaches.- Jack Emick
Controlling Real Estate Costs
Cost is always a factor in business decisions, and the desire to shed square footage and real estate costs is also driving design, Mekus observed.
She noted that traditional firms, such as accounting firms, are doing that in part through the use of technology; they’re not storing tremendous amounts of paper any longer.
Likewise, Mekus commented:
“„Courts have now allowed law offices to scan documents and use digital media; so, large firms have shed themselves of 20% to 30% of the space previously occupied by files.- Spes Mekus, ASID, IIDA, IIDC, LEED AP ID+C
She continued:
“„They’re moving to spaces where they can concentrate more people into well-designed, technologically outfitted offices and thus reduce their square footage.- Spes Mekus, ASID, IIDA, IIDC, LEED AP ID+C
She added:
“„In addition, companies are cutting real estate costs by using technology to allow employees to be more mobile, something that started in the mid-1990s with the hoteling phenomenon that started in the accounting/consulting world.- Spes Mekus, ASID, IIDA, IIDC, LEED AP ID+C
Stephanie Karner, an associate at RTKL in Washington, said:
“„We have found on average only 60% of the office is utilized at any given time; so, there is another 40% that’s not being used.- Stephanie Karner, IIDA, LEED AP ID+C
She added:
“„There is an opportunity, especially with increasing real estate costs, for clients to analyze whether or not to go to an alternate workplace strategy, perhaps unassigned desks [hot desking, hoteling].- Stephanie Karner, IIDA, LEED AP ID+C
Karner concluded:
“„It could be too much of a cultural shift for some people, but it might work for others, especially if there is a high remote-worker population.- Stephanie Karner, IIDA, LEED AP ID+C
Open-Office Pushback
For those who spend most of their time in the office, however, needs may be different.
Karner said:
“„We’re seeing our clients push back a lot more on the open office environment.- Stephanie Karner, IIDA, LEED AP ID+C
She added:
“„There are so many generations in the workplace, and everybody works differently. Everyone has different needs to support them and allow them to be productive.- Stephanie Karner, IIDA, LEED AP ID+C
Spes Mekus agreed with her, saying:
“„Most Millennials are more interested in the cool tools they’re going to get, a flexible work day, and the ability to work from wherever they want than they are in a fancy office.- Spes Mekus, ASID, IIDA, IIDC, LEED AP ID+C
She added that, on the other hand, someone who has worked hard to achieve professional standing may be reluctant to give up the status of a private office, depending, too, on the culture of the specific business.
Creating an open office space, putting people into it, and expecting them to be collaborative and creative is often a mistake, according to Karner.
She said:
“„That goes back to our philosophy of change management.- Stephanie Karner, IIDA, LEED AP ID+C
Karner explained:
“„We have to train people how to use the space. We can’t expect them to walk into it on day one and know exactly what that space is supposed to do for them.- Stephanie Karner, IIDA, LEED AP ID+C
She concluded:
“„We have to help them understand how the space should be used, how it was designed, and communicate throughout the whole process to make sure they feel invested and to make sure they feel they were heard.- Stephanie Karner, IIDA, LEED AP ID+C
Jack Emick shared a similar experience.
He narrated:
“„In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s we used to circulate pamphlets that included an article on open-office courtesy: don’t approach someone and start talking, get their attention and they’ll wave you off or invite you in.- Jack Emick
From this experience, Emick pointed out:
“„Just common-sense things that people forget about, especially when they are in an open environment.- Jack Emick
Employee involvement and buy-in to new office configurations is critical, Patrick Mekus, business development and special projects manager at Mekus Tanager, agreed.
He said:
“„You see fads come and go, and open office and collaborative space is certainly the fad now, but I think you really have to ask first what is it that your client does, what kind of culture do they want to create?- Patrick Mekus
He added:
“„Then you have to get their employees involved to make sure the type of space you’re providing for them really fits their needs - and that goes for each department within the organization.- Patrick Mekus
One of the biggest mistakes Patrick Mekus sees is that the client doesn’t have the culture to support the type of space they envision - such as going from a totally closed environment to an open environment.
Employees who have not been sold on the open environment concept will likely resent the perceived loss of privacy and status.
Spes Mekus added:
“„It’s not taking a design off the shelf and foisting it on a business.- Spes Mekus, ASID, IIDA, IIDC, LEED AP ID+C
Technology Integration
Technology is a major factor in contemporary office design. Without it, today’s open, fluid office design would hardly have been possible.
Technology not only affects when and where people work - perhaps remotely at home or in a coffee shop - but also how they occupy and move around in a permanent office space.
Stephanie Karner said:
“„We’re finding that most people are only working in their assigned work spaces about 50% of the time.- Stephanie Karner, IIDA, LEED AP ID+C
She continued:
“„They are moving around quite a bit in the open office space, so increasingly we’re designing spaces that encourage movement and activity.- Stephanie Karner, IIDA, LEED AP ID+C
She added:
“„Studies have shown the strongest tools for collaboration are those chance encounters where you brainstorm in a causal, impromptu manner.- Stephanie Karner, IIDA, LEED AP ID+C
As a result, Karner said:
“„Space is being reallocated; your desk might be a little smaller but there is more shared space.- Stephanie Karner, IIDA, LEED AP ID+C
Walls, where they exist, are becoming more than just dividers, thanks to technology.
As Tony Cianciola, vice president of architectural products at DS&D, noted:
“„There seems to be a big push toward making walls more functional by offering plug-and-play capabilities and technology. Perhaps there is [a] collaborative area where you can plug in your computer or iPad into a flat screen.- Tony Cianciola
Emick said:
“„My view of technology is that whatever comes up, it gets easier to incorporate it.- Jack Emick
Recalling his experience as a furniture designer, Emick couldn’t help but compare:
“„We used to just plan a hole in a box that was a certain dimension because we didn’t know what the technology would be. Now, if we put a hole in a cabinet for future technology, [the technology] only gets smaller or goes completely away; so, you have a hole in a box that doesn’t do anything except collect dust.- Jack Emick
Today’s technology, in Emick’s own words, is:
- “about how it’s used”
- “who uses it”
- “what the security issues are around it”
The importance of information and building security was a concern echoed by Spes Mekus.
She noted that glass films are available that block hackers from intercepting information.
For example, there are coatings that can block Wi-Fi signals and cell phone transmissions, yet are almost transparent, making them no more intrusive than conventional window treatments. It can keep signals in or minimize external radio interference.
Physical security is just as important, keeping the visitor and public space segregated from secure employee space where anyone with a phone can capture proprietary information.
Mekus said:
“„It’s a real issue and in an open plan it can be difficult to control that sort of thing; so, it has to be very well thought out in the design process.- Spes Mekus, ASID, IIDA, IIDC, LEED AP ID+C
Privacy, Please
Open-office design inevitably collides with the desire-even the need-for privacy.
More and more, the trend is toward a balance of the two, with attention to the needs of specific tasks.
Cianciola said:
“„What we’ve seen with customer requirements or an A&D firm’s design intent, is a trend toward providing a variety of private settings for end users. When significant time is spent at open workstations, it is important that alternative settings be made available.- Tony Cianciola
The “alternative settings,” according to Cianciola, “often includes spaces,” such as the following:
- “single-person rooms that can be used for a private phone call”
- “a smaller two-person or three-person meeting room that can be used for private conversations with co-workers or managers”
- “some larger rooms that can accommodate four to six people”
- “traditional meeting or conference rooms for larger groups”
He added:
“„Providing employees with a variety of work-space settings and privacy options can lead to increased productivity and satisfaction.- Tony Cianciola
Cianciola continued:
“„When it comes to privacy, acoustical privacy is important as well.- Tony Cianciola
He further said:
“„There are a variety of materials and glass surfaces that can be used to provide employees with a reprieve from some of the noise distractions that can occur in an open-office environment.- Tony Cianciola
He likewise suggested:
“„These spaces can be created using modular constructionor demountable architecture to provide future flexibility, help control noise, and enhance privacy.- Tony Cianciola
Cianciola continued discussing about acoustic privacy:
“„It is also important to note that acoustical privacy requires a holistic solution. Even the thickest, most-insulated walls will not provide complete acoustic privacy if the ceilings and the floors are not also addressed within the building envelope.- Tony Cianciola
He concluded:
“„We will often recommend when a company is getting complaints about noise that they speak with an acoustics consultant to help identify the root cause of the problem.- Tony Cianciola
User Experience
In the end, it’s about overall end-user experience, according to Don Kolterjahn of DS&D.
He said:
“„Many companies are integrating amenities like cafes and coffee bars into their spaces. These provide employees with the ability to get away from their desk and engage with their co-workers.- Don Kolterjahn
He added:
“„The work spaces are more likely to resemble the social places that we go to - like a coffee shop, relaxed and inviting.- Don Kolterjahn
Another concept companies are using is “the kitchen table,” according to Kolterjahn.
He explained:
“„It’s a large table strategically placed and designed to encourage informal and formal gatherings of people, for both social and business purposes. These tables can also be fitted with technology to encourage group collaboration and activities.- Don Kolterjahn
Final Thoughts
There may be no such thing as a perfect office.
Nevertheless, architects and designers are pointed out that when it comes to individual client needs, there should be:
- flexibility
- diversity
- sensitivity
Making all three present will go a long way toward achieving a pleasant, productive office environment and avoiding the open-office blues.
George Evans
Author
George Anderson, an exceptional architectural designer, envisions and brings to life structures that transcend the realm of imagination. With an unwavering passion for design and an innate eye for detail, George seamlessly blends form and function, creating immersive spaces that inspire awe.
Driven by a deep appreciation for the interplay of space, light, and materials, George's innovative approach redefines the possibilities of architectural design. His visionary compositions leave an indelible mark, evoking a sense of wonder and transforming the built environment.
George Anderson's transformative designs and unwavering dedication continue to shape the architectural landscape, pushing the boundaries of what is possible and inspiring generations to come.
Latest Articles
Popular Articles