cellular, open plan and activity based workplace arrangements

Cellular, Open Plan and Activity Based Workplace Arrangements

WorkplaceTypologies:

Research by the Office of the Government Architect for the Department of Finance - BMWBusiness Development and Government Office Accommodation.

One Shelley Street, Macquarie Group, Clive Wilkinson Architects, Sydney

Research by the Office of the Government Architect for the Department of Finance

Workplace Typologies:

Cellular, Open Plan and Activity Based Workplace Arrangements

Introduction It is recognised that the quality of the workplace environment plays a significant role on business efficiency and effectiveness.1 A well designed workplace will better support day to day operations and aid the process of change and improvement. 2 People who work in well designed and well located workspaces feel more valued as employees and, as result, are more productive and less likely to look for elsewhere for professional opportunities.3 Key elements of well-designed office workplaces include:

efficient, clear space for maximum flexibility of layout place making – defined places for entry, reception, work, breaks, drinks and

catering, services accessible to all and, where relevant, welcoming to the public and customers a workplace, location and building representing organisational values maximum access to views and outlook good environmental qualities: lighting, heat, air with individual control of the

environment where possible design for comfort and ergonomics, particularly in furniture and lighting use of colour, texture, light and architectural features to enliven the work

environment design for security and safety design for energy efficiency and future-proofing.

[Source: CABE: Creating Excellent Buildings]4

New and alternate approaches to working are continually emerging, which in turn result in different workplace arrangements. This paper will look at three workplace typologies; cellular, open plan and activity based workplaces. Successful workplaces will likely incorporate characteristics of all three types, designed in a way to best suit the needs of individual business or agency. The balance of each type of arrangement will be determined by the specifics of the brief for the project, and the range and nature of the activities which need to be accommodated in a particular location. Each organisation must make decisions about the nature of their workplace within the context of their own objectives and priorities, and recognise the affinities between working patterns and building types.5 Additionally organisations should anticipate change and plan for flexibility, to enable change to occur with greater effectiveness.6

1 T Allen, A Bell, R Graham, B Hardy & F Swaffer, Working without Walls, Office of Government Commerce, London, 2004 2 T Allen, A Bell, R Graham, B Hardy & F Swaffer, Working without Walls, Office of Government Commerce, London, 2004 3 CABE and Llewelyn Davies Yeang, Better Places to Work, Telford Publishing, London, 2005 4 CABE, Creating Excellent Buildings; A guide for Clients 2003 5 CABE and the British Council for Offices, The Impact of Office Design on Business Performance, Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, 2005 6 CABE and the British Council for Offices, The Impact of Office Design on Business Performance, Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, 2005


Cellular Workplace A cellular workplace is one that consists predominantly of enclosed private offices. Typically the offices are arranged along a central corridor and sized according to the status or position of the intended occupant.8 Staff generally also have access to shared meeting rooms to conduct their work. Allocation of office space usually reflects a hierarchy of roles within an organisation rather than providing a work environment that supports optimal working practices.9

8 T Allen, A Bell, R Graham, B Hardy & F Swaffer, Working without Walls, Office of Government Commerce, London, 2004 9 T Allen, A Bell, R Graham, B Hardy & F Swaffer, Working without Walls, Office of Government Commerce, London, 2004


An example of an enclosed office floor plan: The Pomerantz Centre, The University of Iowa, 2005

Advantages:

Increased privacy; Reduced noise and interruptions; Facilitates completion of sensitive and independent work; Increased sense of ownership, status and personal identity with workspace.

Disadvantages:

Limited communication with other staff, members of different teams and managers10; Communication is more likely to be scheduled11; Reduced opportunities for tacit learning and mentoring12; Potential for more experienced employee’s skills to stagnate without interaction with other staff with new

and different skills 13; Less interaction and involvement with the workplace in general; Reduced the sense of value for staff not allocated private offices.

10 T Allen, A Bell, R Graham, B Hardy & F Swaffer, Working without Walls, Office of Government Commerce, London, 2004 11 F Becker, Offices that Work; Balancing Communication Flexibility and Cost, Cornell University, 2001 12 the practice of locating more experienced staff in enclosed private offices can reduce learning and development opportunities for less experienced staff 13 M O’Neill, Open Plan and Enclosed Private Offices; Research, Review and Recommendations, Knoll Workplace Research, 2008


Open Plan Workplace An Open Plan workplace can take many different forms, though the term generally refers to an office environment where multiple individual workstations share a single space without the use of dividing walls.14 An Open Plan office can consist of:

High-panelled cubicles with individual desks (where one cannot see over the panel when seated); Low-panelled cubicles with individual desks (where one can see over the panel when seated); A cluster or “pod” of low-panelled workstations separated from another pod by higher panels; A shared enclosed office (2-12 people in an enclosed space); or, A team-oriented ‘bullpen’, with a small group of desks in a completely open area15.

An Open Plan arrangement can potentially provide staff with alternate work settings to find the most appropriate environment to match the tasks they are performing (as is the intent of Activity Based Workplaces – see below). This might involve moving to quieter or enclosed space for concentrated and focused work or conversely moving to more informal shared spaces to aid interaction and collaboration.16

14 T Allen, A Bell, R Graham, B Hardy & F Swaffer, Working without Walls, Office of Government Commerce, London, 2004 15 F Becker, Offices that Work; Balancing Communication Flexibility and Cost, Cornell University, 2001 16 T Allen, A Bell, R Graham, B Hardy & F Swaffer, Working without Walls, Office of Government Commerce, London, 2004


Images of Open Plan office floors and associated alternate areas for meetings and other interactions. Advantages:

More conducive to overall work effectiveness, when communication and interaction are critical elements of the work process.17

Supports team-oriented work and tasks. Removes physical barriers between managers and other staff, improving clarity of direction, task speed

and quality. 18 Potential to improve density of workstation to floor space thus reducing costs per employee.19 Enables flexible use of space through greater opportunities for adaptation and dealing with ‘churn’.20 Improves visual access which allows behavioural cues to resolve or avoid conflict by understanding the

subtleties of nonverbal behaviour.21 Better facilitates ‘tacit learning’ - more opportunities for observing and learning from those with more

experience and different skills.22 Enables a person to see actual work occurring in other business units or departments, facilitating a greater

transfer of information both within and across teams.23 Reduces the likelihood that someone is left out of an interaction in which he or she should be a part.24 Interactions of managers and their teams can be shorter in more open spaces.25 Increases opportunities for good natural light levels and air quality in the work space.

17 C Hickey, Open Plan; Realising the Benefits, Presentation to Building Management Works ‘Open Plan Workshop’ 2010 18 C Hickey, Open Plan; Realising the Benefits, Presentation to Building Management Works ‘Open Plan Workshop’ 2010 19 F Becker, Offices that Work; Balancing Communication Flexibility and Cost, Cornell University, 2001 Additional shared spaces and floor space required. 20 F Becker, Offices that Work; Balancing Communication Flexibility and Cost, Cornell University, 2001 21 F Becker, Offices that Work; Balancing Communication Flexibility and Cost, Cornell University, 2001 22 F Becker, Offices that Work; Balancing Communication Flexibility and Cost, Cornell University, 2001; ‘Tacit learning occurs in a serendipitous, unplanned way, as a by-product of our routine, daily activities. It is learning that depends on being able to see and hear and observe how others handle different situations. This same form of tacit learning occurs in, and is critical to the success of organizations.’ 23 F Becker, Offices that Work; Balancing Communication Flexibility and Cost, Cornell University, 2001 24 F Becker, Offices that Work; Balancing Communication Flexibility and Cost, Cornell University, 2001 25 F Becker, Offices that Work; Balancing Communication Flexibility and Cost, Cornell University, 2001


An example of an Open Plan office floor plan: The National Australia Bank, Bligh Voller Nield, Docklands, Melbourne

Disadvantages: (Depending on the type of open plan environment...) loss of privacy, loss of identity, low work

productivity, various health issues, overstimulation and low job satisfaction when working in an open plan work environment.26

Some studies have shown reduced productivity27, particularly due to acoustic impacts. General expectations and attitudes of staff favour closed offices.28 Greater difficulty in controlling unwanted distractions and interruptions. Potential adverse impacts on staff well-being.29 Lack of quiet spaces or zones designed primarily for individual work can affect concentration and

encourage staff to seek working from home, or other locations away from the office.30 Can lead to a perceived loss of status and benefits, when employees shift from an enclosed office to open

plan.31 26 V Oommen, M Knowles, & I Zhao, Should health service managers embrace open plan work environments? A review. Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management, 2008 27 Open plan office workers suffer more from colds, high blood pressure and stress, The Telegraph, 13th Jan 2009 28 B F Becker, Offices that Work; Balancing Communication Flexibility and Cost, Cornell University, 2001 29 Dyckhoff, Tom, The Secret Life of Buildings, 2011, Channel 4, UK - One study showed that open plan office lead to a 32% drop in workers well-being, and reduced productivity by 15%. 30 T Allen, A Bell, R Graham, B Hardy & F Swaffer, Working without Walls, Office of Government Commerce, London, 2004 31 M O’Neill, Open Plan and Enclosed Private Offices; Research, Review and Recommendations, Knoll Workplace Research, 2008


Activity Based Workplace Activity-based workplaces (AbW) provide a more flexible arrangement of the open plan workspace where employees are free to choose the area of the work place that best suits the activities or tasks they need to perform on a given day. This can often mean that employees do not have an individual desk or workstation of their own.

This approach requires careful investigation of the way people work so that office environments can be carefully designed around their needs.

The activity-based workplace removes traditional hierarchies.

For this approach to be successful, employees must know what work they’re to be involved in on a particular day and use the area best suited to that task. Additionally employees can not be expected to work in their traditional manner.32 The Activity-based Workplace emerged out of the research of Erik Veldoen, captured in his 1994 text ‘The Demise of the Office’33.

ANZ Building, Hassell Studio, Melbourne

32 Jacqui Preshaw, Woodhead Perth Principle, Space Shortage drives activity-based design, WA Business Newspaper, July 5 2012. 33 Crowe-Hardy, Mitchell, Space shortage drives activity-based design, WA Business Newspaper, July 5 2012.


Microsoft Building, Sevil Peach in Schiphol, The Netherlands Advantages: By providing a range of different settings and technologies to support various tasks, activities and modes of work AbW arrangements have the potential to:

Increase productivity34 Increase autonomy and entrepreneurship within an organisation35 Strengthen corporate image and workplace culture36 Increase collaboration, communication and knowledge sharing within and between teams37 Increase employee enjoyment, well being and satisfaction38 Increase opportunities for team-oriented work;

34 R Van Koetsveld & L Kamperman, How flexible workplace strategies can be made successful at the operational level, Corporate Real Estate Journal, Volume 1, Number 4 2011 35 R Van Koetsveld & L Kamperman, How flexible workplace strategies can be made successful at the operational level, Corporate Real Estate Journal, Volume 1, Number 4 2011 36 R Van Koetsveld & L Kamperman, How flexible workplace strategies can be made successful at the operational level, Corporate Real Estate Journal, Volume 1, Number 4 2011 37 R Van Koetsveld & L Kamperman, How flexible workplace strategies can be made successful at the operational level, Corporate Real Estate Journal, Volume 1, Number 4 2011 38 R Van Koetsveld & L Kamperman, How flexible workplace strategies can be made successful at the operational level, Corporate Real Estate Journal, Volume 1, Number 4 2011


Support specific tasks through environments that are appropriate to needs.39 Improve the spatial economy of the workplace with more efficient use of facilities, floor and desk spaces.

40

Disadvantages: Unpredictability of available space ABW will not be appropriate to all workplaces or types of services delivery.41

39 R Van Koetsveld & L Kamperman, How flexible workplace strategies can be made successful at the operational level, Corporate Real Estate Journal, Volume 1, Number 4 2011 40 Crowe-Hardy, Mitchell, ‘Space shortage drives activity-based design’, WA Business Newspaper, July 5 2012. Additional shared spaces and floor space required. 41 Crowe-Hardy, Mitchell, ‘Space shortage drives activity-based design’, WA Business Newspaper, July 5 2012.eg. In the legal industry where the ratio is 30-50% of floor space is used for individual offices. This industry requires privacy and security and an open plan, multi function office would create a sense of nervousness in this context.


Other Workplace Initiatives: Hot Desking

Hot desking is the practice whereby individual desks are shared by two or more people. It is used when staff are generally not in the office at the same time and would not have a conflicting need for the same space at the same time, for example in a job sharing arrangement. 42 Hot desking can be used as a strategy in each of the workplaces identified above however, as a more recent workplace practice to emerge it is most often associated with ABW.

Staff will need to receive education prior to implementation in relation to how to achieve the best results from hot desking.43

An office using hot desking.

Advantages:

Improves spatial efficiency due to more effective space utilisation per person.44 Removes the necessity of calculating space requirements in relation to constantly fluctuating staff

numbers.45

Disadvantages:

Careful planning is necessary to coordinate the demand of the hot desk. The concept will fail if the staff sharing the workspace need it at the same time.46

Employees are unable to personalise their workspace, and workplace culture will need to enforce procedures maintaining clear desks.

Full-time staff may use the hot desk as an overflow work area if it is left vacant. Additional storage space will be required by the staff sharing the hot desk (e.g. mobile drawer units for

workstations).

42 http://www.gamc.nsw.gov.au/workplace-guidelines/3_wpdirections/wpdirections_3_03_05.htm 43 http://www.gamc.nsw.gov.au/workplace-guidelines/3_wpdirections/wpdirections_3_03_05.htm 44 http://www.gamc.nsw.gov.au/workplace-guidelines/3_wpdirections/wpdirections_3_03_05.htm 45 http://www.gamc.nsw.gov.au/workplace-guidelines/3_wpdirections/wpdirections_3_03_05.htm 46 http://www.gamc.nsw.gov.au/workplace-guidelines/3_wpdirections/wpdirections_3_03_05.htm

cellular, open plan and activity based workplace arrangements

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