No no, NOT PORN in the work place, I mean work place images that are almost as interesting as porn.

uhm.

Almost.



I have seen so many beautifully compelling exteriors with soul-deadening interiors that I feel obliged to state the obvious here: people work IN buildings, not on or around them.

Your clients may take a glimpse of your building for a half moment as they walk in, but from then on, it is how the place feels inside that counts.

It is what is on the INSIDE that counts!

And as much as it counts for your clients, it matters tenfold for your poor co-workers, who are spending more than a third of their life cooped up in an unfortunate space.


Wow. An HDR image of a seriously cluttered space!

If you are an employer, you have two employee-attitude-paths that you can go down:
1) you can focus on how to make your employees redundant, thereby decreasing your risk if they leave. And by doing so you may, in fact, be encouraging them to leave. Or...
2) you can concentrate on retention... that is, on what you can do to keep your employees.


Geninne's space

To my mind, the most affordable and effective way to retain an employee is to give them a good and fun place to work. And the most fun places, and this is a very disputable claim, aren't engineered so much as grown.

So what are some things that make a great office great? Well I have combed through these pictures and tried to list some of them that I see.

* people should be in a space that lets them learn;
* plenty of space, so you aren't cramped together;
* new shiny gee-whiz technology.



A simpsons cube at Google's main building, the Googleplex.

Physical health seems relaly important, so here are some thoughts on this.

Your ability to perform your job efficiently and effectively is influenced by any number of environmental considerations:

* warmth;
* daylight;
* glare avoidance (we all use screens, so this matters!);
* ergonomics; and
* positive (but often indirect) lighting.


This is the VW plant in Dresden, Germany.
It is like something out of a science fiction movie.

We have been chatting here at work about ways we could make the office more spiffy, and it isn't at all a mundane subject. Not only do all designerly folks have too many opinions about this, but there is a lot of philosophical implications as well - presumably we should aspire to have our space look like how we want our company to be. Ideally, the external physicality should reflect the internal reality. And presumably the investment in physical space will pay back in terms of retention and creativity.

But there is some hogwash in that sentiment too, since a good designer at a ho-hum desk probably does as good a job as if she were at a great desk. But a moderate or inferior designer, I think, might do much better work. I just don't know.


Yes, that is right, and this guy ain't fooling around - inside the tie fighter's cockpit you can see the cpu, the motherboard, etc.

YOu wnat a place that allows three things to happen either simultaneously or upon request:

* individual distraction-free work;
* undistracted group/team work; and
* impromptu collaboration and interaction


Have you been in a Target recently and seen the wonderful paper cutouts that are floating above you? They were done in this little cramped studio. Tord Boontje's studio in Paris.



Red Bull has a slide to take you from one floor to another. I've always thought a pole would be more fun. But seriously, does anyone expect women in business formal to enjoy this?

Thats right, a conference bike.


This is more a practical joke than a cool workplace, but I like it.



An entire wall made of curvilinear white board with windows. This is a government office! But it is in Europe, darnit. It is called Mindlab at the Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was designed by Bosche and Fjord.


This is the only desk I have seen with a rear view mirror. Joey Manic apparently no longer builds them, but you might be able to get one thirdhand somewhere.

We’ve all seen enough cooking shows on cable by now to realize that much of it is a soft core taste-bud-focused version of porn – or is that just me? Hmm. Maybe I should never use the word “porn” again.

Well some people like to watch Emeril burning some meat - as for me I like to look at other people's desks (probably because mine is so messed up).

Where other people work, where they sit around and ruminate and get things done is the quasi-public private space that can lend insight into how they think, where thy have been and where they are going.



Kathy Sierra writes her GREAT blog, Creating Passionate Users, from within an old trailer.

And it looks almost as comfy from the inside.

With "workplace porn" I guess I am talking about the inevitable wave of pictures of delicious office settings and furniture that crops up around any company hip enough to give its creatives the space to play. And there are SOOO many companies out there who do a fantastic job of giving their people good space.

Anyone remember the shock and awe that arose in 1996 when it was revealed that Netscape - gasp - allowed dogs at work? Surely other quasi-hippy companies have done it as well, but none promoted the "end of business as usual" as did the dot.bombs of those heady mid nineties.


Row of huts at PIXAR


An office alcove at PIXAR

The argument, over and over, seems to be this: “the investment in a compelling space is worth it because it allows our people to perform better.”

I can’t argue against the business case, but speaking from the point of view of someone who has worked in basements, alleys or in row homes, I am just pleased to have a window.

Maybe if everyone's expectations were Dickensian enough, we'd be pleased with heating in the winter and some watery gruel for lunch.



Still, one can’t help but lust after those crazy lunches that google gives away for free, or the fabulous warmth and privacy of the pixar huts.

This workplace seems to be one of the coolest on earth, but it is hard to know. Nice video though:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhlqypFwBaU


the main corporate headquarters of project brasil.

read some more about office spaces here:
http://positivesharing.com/2006/10/10-seeeeeriously-cool-workplaces/


Oh yeah, this is from google. apparently it begins ot get a bit smelly there. Maybe I don't want to work for google after all.

The core of this phenomenon is that we still have a little bit of an industrial model of office design, we still are thinking that we produce some THING, as opposed to some idea.

Knowledge workers produce, handle, massage, refine and distribute knowledge. Sometimes knowledge workers produce consultations, sometime they make entertainment. What knowledge workers need to make this happen, the physical side of their mental canvas, hasn't caught up yet, and it is fascinating to see how many concepts, be they grown, designed or scientifically developed are creating a great landscape of office spaces to lust after.

There is a GREAT summary of different thoughts about well-designed workspaces here.

Labels: Design