Page 137 - AIT0417_E-Paper

I f we want to design the office of the future we first of all have to know a lot about the present. Whatever digital
developments may look like, and they will be exceptional, one thing is for sure: we will always be involved. We
will bring our physical conditions – our three axes, our sensitivity to heat and noise. However, humans are not solely
made of physical conditions, and an ergonomically correct workplace does not suffice. We want surroundings which
facilitate our very personal implicitness, where we are able to emotionally locate ourselves. We want a home. That is
why people like to go to the office, because this is where they find a place where their feelings and day-to-day activities
are reflected in a very simple, not permanently excogitated way. At first sight this does not seem consistent with the
development of workplaces away from one’s own fixed desk, at which one sits down for 20, 30 years, towards much
more flowing models. In future-proof offices desks are actually only one version of “work”. An employee does not
spend his entire time in a company sitting on an office chair, or shouldn’t do so in the ideal case. Consequently, it is the
entire daily routine any planning has to take account of, from one’s arrival until ending the day during the Happy Hour.
Rituals are the decisive connection between the two poles of homeland-loving sedentarism and the new nomadism in
the office. The more agile, more freely selectable the workplaces and work forms, the greater is the significance of main-
taining everyday rituals. One’s working life consist of an enormous amount of activities, processes and events which
are recurring and closely related to certain people, activities and places. Thus they definitely deserve to be understood
as rituals and given the corresponding attention and allocation in the room layout. The ritualised office day starts long
before sitting down in front of one’s computer. Even upon arrival details send signals which determine to what extent
employees fell welcome. Here, the identity of the respective work group manifests, which is of utmost importance for
the emotional power of the office as a location. This does not demand a prestigious address for the customer or visitor.
It is only about the arrival of the employees on their floor or in their working area. When walking towards the wardrobe
it should not be a concern whether one’s bag can be stored there as well. Not only for nomadic employees personal
lockers make it easier to set oneself up, they also help permanently installed team members to organise their life around
their working hours. Sportswear, shoes to change or the shopping done in the lunch break cannot really be stowed Besprechungsraum, der knallt. • Meeting room, with bombshell effect.
away underneath one’s desk. The next place to go is the pigeonhole. There are millions of carelessly arranged pigeon-
holes, although it is very easy to give this area a personal design with, for example, photos of the employees and thus
establish a participation format. It is these small signs of appreciation which cause the development of trust towards
the company. Ideally, the employees can look through the things that have to be dealt with, still independent of the
actual workplace. Activity-based work means that the task defines the place suitable for it. Orientation zones serve as
filter between arriving and a specific activity accomplished on one’s own or in a team. Whiteboard areas help to visu-
alise things or leave messages for others. In digital processes such analogue means are great possibilities to write down
plans without great effort which are visible for everyone, to visualise processes and illustrate tasks as well as progress.
Magnetic walls and acoustic surfaces that can be used as pin boards are the ingredients for the success of this model,
which should be available directly at the workplace as well as in meeting and conference rooms. Walls, on which peo-
ple can write on up to the height they can reach and down to the skirting board allow the greatest possible creative
scope and remove all obstacles in the flow of thoughts. Subsequently, people proceed to their workplace. At the
moment, the majority of companies still provide fixed workplaces for their staff. However, the flexibility to form new,
appropriate teams from project to project is productive and thereby more successful than strictly non-territorial con-
cepts, where everything as to be found again every day. Formal meeting rooms have their own fixed rituals across com-
panies. One enters the room, the door is closed portentously. The table is a symbol that something important is to be
negotiated. Depending on the company and industry, the room size, equipment and furnishings correspond to certain
conventions, but the prestigious effect should by no means limit creativity: here too, write-on walls can support process-
es and decision making. Above these free spaces, there is room for colour to convey vitalisation and identity. To achieve
focussed work, the retreat to one’s very own space is an important ritual which does not just happen. Those who retreat
from the activities in a team spend a lot of energy to do so. Even if a room does not have to be booked, a target-oriented
Postfach mit einem persönlichen Touch • Pigeonholes with touch
activity is necessary to venture this retreat and occupy this place. Project rooms need to be similarly purposeful: here
it is part of the ritual to prepare the room oneself, whether with stand-up tables or a circle of chairs.

It is important to bring the employees together to celebrate success.

While these leisure elements are recognised and supported in offices, there are other places which are completely
overlooked. In very rare cases, there is a budget for the interior design of WCs, although a consideration can be con-
veyed here, which also refreshed people’s mind and signalised that those responsible have thought of the employees.
The same applies to staircases, where places for activities could be laid out, instead of simply complying with fire
protection regulations. This is important since one primarily regains one’s strength when moving, and not necessarily
when lying on a sofa. If occasional relaxation shall take place in peace and quiet, the possibility to close one’s eyes
need not necessarily imply zones for lying down. High armchairs, which can be rotated to face or turn away from one
another, create a separate world and can be more charming than hygienically impeccable loungers. One item on the
agenda, which can neither be ascribed to pure working hours nor break time, but is equally important for a company,
is the ‘Pride Show’ – celebrating successes, after a long planning phase or announced spontaneously. It is important
to bring people together to make it possible to experience success. That is why such an occasion needs more than the
usual office meeting on Monday morning, it needs an appropriate venue away from the desks, which is available at
short notice. The future of work is a story which has to be told and, above all, invented. So for the future we plan for
what we all know and know it works: our bodies with their penchant for rituals. We develop a design which is suc-
cessful and has a stronger identity. Different zones for different thoughts which need to be conceived. Spaces where
people find the right place for their rituals. Have a good day at work!

AIT 4.2017 • 137