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| Brief
history of office planning | Future
trends in office accommodation | Workplace
points of view | Space types | Specific workstation features Case Studies: 1 Campus MLC | 2 NSW Police HQ |
| Space Types This section deals with the various types of space such as:
This Section should also be read in conjunction with the Design Considerations and Specific Areas Section. Individual Workspaces Individuals have traditionally been accommodated in offices or workstations. Today we see a blurring of boundaries between the definition of a traditional office and a standard workstation. We also see the identification of new space types (or standards) which may in some situations more directly reflect specific agency requirements. For example, smaller offices, referred to as "cockpit offices", for individuals who need some form of privacy but who may not necessarily want to be in a separate office, or we may see several people sharing one enclosed office, or workstations which are organic in shape and be shared by several different people. We also find a variety of alternative locations for work, so that individuals are freed from working in only one location. Whether this is viewed as a positive or negative trend, is largely up to individual agencies and ultimately can only be decided by undertaking the appropriate analysis of business and workstyle requirements.
Specific requirements for traditional layouts utilising rectilinear workstations are well summarised in the paper, from the Department of Defence Accommodation Guidelines for Open Plan. This paper is provided as an example of the way that one Federal Government Agency has approached their workstation guidelines. It is not intended to represent NSW Government standards, though it is a useful summary of standard technical specifications and associated Australian Standards for workstation design. It should be noted that the affordability of flat screen technology will allow the deep cornered work setting to disappear, if desired. Workstation Configurations New trends in workstation configurations are described below: (a) The 'Cluster' Arrangement: The 'Cluster' concept is widely used particularly for team based activities. It is often based on either four or six person workstations arranged in a grouping. People who collaborate require proximity to each other and to the team spaces. An additional requirement is for a furniture system that will facilitate frequent reorganising of teams. Hence, the logic of workspace collocation into teams of 2, 3, 4 or 6 workpoints. The 'Cluster' arrangement allows personnel to work individually (or in teams) with minimal disruption or distraction.
Steelcase (b) The 'Star' Configuration: The 'Star' Configuration is often preferred when the team concept of work is dependent on members of the team having face-to-face contact, needing to frequently pass documents, or engage in frequent discussion, or where social interaction is important eg. high repetitive work such as telephone answering. Notwithstanding, the 'Star' configuration is more open to traffic with greater potential for disruption or distraction and utilises floor space less efficiently.
Steelcase (c) Organic Configurations: Today we see a number of workstation clusters which are based on 'organic' styled workstations - often arranged at angles - 120 degrees and which sometimes look like a 'meandering organic shape. These can be particularly interesting when arranged in random shapes on a floor and can break up the rigidity of rectilinear workstations.
The Creative Office, Jeremy Myerson and Philip Ross Mobile Furniture Freeform Components Today's furniture provides a variety of options to "mix and match" workstation modules to create and customise individual workspaces. Mobile components can be wheeled and attached in a variety of ways, opening up options for rearrangement and flexibility
Design Secrets: Offce Spaces, Elana Frankel Rectilinear Workstation
The New Office, Francis Duffy Support spaces Refer also to Support Spaces. The following images illustrate a range of different office environments focusing on examples of emerging (or non-traditional) support spaces including:
Small rooms /booths for concentrated work, or intensive telephoning or confidential calls
Open areas available for informal discussions - open lounges
Quiet areas
Quiet areas
Touch-down areas for occasional or short-term use
Specialist areas for specific work or presentations ie A-V areas
Free plan areas for breaking out and relaxing
Project team areas for brainstorming and cross-functional teams
Variety of meeting spaces - formal and informal, open and closed
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