How life in cubicles evolved — Focus

Space planning for today’s office is not as simple as it once was. Every decade has offered new recommendations on how best to design the environment for the office worker.

Germany introduced the open plan office concept in the 1970s, featuring many small workstations with minimal separation. The technological needs of a standard workstation, at that time, included a phone, adding machine and a typewriter.
In the 1980s, the average office emphasized the open plan concept executed with panel systems. The ‘80s also reintroduced private offices with a window as a sign of status in the workplace.  
In the 1990s, the size of open plan workstations grew, panel heights increased and stations included a large monitor and various items of technology, such as printers, scanners and copiers.  
Now in the 21st century, the office workstations are shrinking as electronics become more compact. Large CRT monitors are being replaced with space and energy efficient flat screens, laptops and even hand-held devices. The challenge of today’s office is to keep pace with technology, the fastest changing element within the office environment.
Offices are also becoming a green-friendly environment with office recycling programs and eco-friendly office products and furniture. Furniture manufacturers have spent millions of dollars to improve the environmental impact of their products.
With the widespread use of multifunctional devices, technology has made the workplace and employee mobile, causing a reduction in size of the open office workspace. The standard 8’ x 10’ office may be replaced with an area for several users in a team environment with interchangeable components. These teams may include employees who float between multiple locations, such as working from home, with business partners within other companies, or even from a local coffee shop.  
Space planning for today’s office requires space flexibility and efficiency, as every square foot of workstation real estate is valuable. There is no set standard workstation size or design for innovative companies in today’s corporate climate, but rather space is continually redefined by the changing requirements and practices of current businesses.  
To create the new flexible office to house today’s office environment, many considerations will go into the space planning. The individual work areas may include accommodations for confidentiality, mental concentration, storage and private space. If team space is desired, it should be designed to encourage communication, teamwork and interaction. The ideal space would achieve this by reducing the individual workspace and creating additional spaces for team activities.  
The use of tall panels will achieve increased sound privacy. Lower height panels will encourage teaming and interaction. Providing enclosed office accommodations for workers who need confidentiality and concentration will still be required, but they will also benefit from the team spaces.
The “paperless” office touted in the ‘80s is still a goal rather than an actuality, and supply and file storage is still necessary in the office; however, the space required for file storage is decreasing as newer technologies reduce the dependency on paper.  
Furniture industry studies tell us that companies should plan for tomorrow’s ideal office by preparing for fast-paced change. Organizations should anticipate work force fluctuations with individual work environments that can increase or decrease easily.
Allowing employees to control their workspace through flexible work tools that adapt to multiple tasks may increase productivity. When selecting the office products to facilitate the evolving office space, consider green-certified products from companies that demonstrate environmental responsibility.
With smart planning, an organization can create an adaptable office environment that will help workspaces remain productive, even as jobs evolve for years to come.  
 
Salle Ann Robinson is an NCIDQ-certified interior designer at Business Interiors of Idaho in Boise.