The work culture concept was born, when people first got together to achieve common goals, under leadership. The organization, its ideologies, and the attitude of employees, all are part of the work culture. To promote good work culture, the workplace plays an important role in developing a sense of loyalty and contentment, towards company work. Taylorism is the concept that the last millennium has seen rising, where offices are arranged in a functional grid to increase efficiency and ease of workflow. Desks were arranged in rigid rows with the manager’s rooms at the end, in the main workspace, to overlook their subordinates.
But as suspected, Taylorism has come under a lot of criticism, as design lacks social considerations. Communication and interaction are key to ensuring a satisfactory work experience and this is hindered. The spaces are monotonous, inflexible, and are not accommodating to changes or upgrades. Such restricted designs reduce worker productivity by affecting their mental health and morale.
How can the desired efficiency in workplaces be achieved through design efforts?
In the present time, modern offices have come far from rigid office designs, and a lot of effort is put into ensuring employee wellbeing in engaging spaces. Besides the employees, the employer is also an essential stakeholder while considering the design.
The nature of workspaces depends on the organization that occupies the space. Companies of today like many technology startups, small businesses, and creative agencies – are shifting to remote working every day. These businesses do not need an office space throughout the year but once in a while for strategy or teamwork. They are keen to pool in a workspace without the hassle of owning one. How do we address this switching demand of work areas that are different from a desk-sharing coworking area, to an enterprise-hired coworking? Even though it is a niche necessity, there is a lot of room for innovation in this type of design. The management of spaces is drastically different from conventional offices, where a steady work process is followed. There is a market with demand for such spaces, and it’s just like a box of puzzle pieces, waiting to be put together.
Brief: The challenge of the competition was to design a coworking space for offices/small enterprises to hire only for a few months in a year. The need of this office is different from a solo coworking and requires some extent of customization to make this a tailormade office environment while keeping the good parts of coworking intact.
The design of this coworking space was particularly tricky since every company has its own specific needs when it comes to office equipment. But in this challenge, the organisers were mainly trying to see how a single space can be transformed to perform an array of functions with smart design interventions.
The jury for the competition consisted of esteemed designers, professionals, and academicians from around the world. The Lead Jurors for the competitions were as follows:
Jejon Yeung, Partner, Worrell Yeung, United States
David Wick, Principal, Wick Architecture and Design, United States
David Fenster, President / CEO, Modulus, United States
Nicko Elliott, Principal, Civilian, United States
Some of the Best of competition projects are as follows:
Winning Project: The Spiraling Circuit
By: Oh JongHee, Kim GyeongJeung & Yu Sanggu
Description: “We imagined a new platform; A continuous platform that can escape the vertical and horizontal surveillance network of Taylorism while at the same time integrating each space like a single space. As a result, the main concept of the building we propose is a continuous circuit. The continual flow on the spiraling line induces active interactions with the user.”
Jury Comments: “There is great thought put into the multi-functional approach to the space and variation on size of spaces needed. Addressing acoustic needs would have been a plus as the ‘free flowing’ space likely creates noise issues. A nod to the orientation and possible sustainable benefits (ie: solar) would also have been beneficial. Overall it’s clear a great deal of thought was put into how the space functions and benefits the occupants. Appreciate the overall concept and the level of analysis and design into the furniture systems to support a variety of working modes and overall space adaptability. The diagonal lines on the curtainwall seem superfluous and instead a device to control solar shade should have been considered given the amount of glazing. Elevators would be a necessity in this plan/design. This project is finely described and well-thought-out. The termination of the top of the spiral would have been stronger if it broke from the rigorously applied logic of the plan. Simpler fenestration and more attention to parking would improve the project.”
People’s Choice: Collab
By: Rose Casia Robinson
Description: “Our team designed an office building that is flexible, collaborative, sustainable, and adaptable- we named it Collab. The collab will transform a tired and gloomy office into a motivated and inspirational one – which will eventually reflect positively on the overall business performance.”
Jury Comments: “There is much to commend in the spatial resolution of the round office plan. The parking structure is over-expressed and distracts from the main building. Space planning shows a serious consideration for a variety of functions while maintaining a nice balance of visual proposity and access to daylight and the central outdoor garden. Would have been nice to see system furniture support more modes of working (the 4 person desk configuration that repeats throughout does not necessarily support a collaborative work environment). Conceptually they started in a good place, but the execution falls it short. There is mention of good ideas though they are not well represented in plan or imagery as to the potential. While this submission shares many of the same thoughts as another submission, it clearly does not have the same level of thought as to the integration and execution – though the dynamic exterior carries more presence than the other.”
People’s Choice: THE COWORKING HUB
By: Bedirhan Koc, Esra ŞİMŞEK & Tuğçe Çam
Description: “The risk level of the spaces shared with hundreds of people in gigantic square meters was old-fashioned for the design of a new normal office. In this context, we focused on a new plan typology in which the same air does not circulate and the spaces where fresh air reaches independently.”
Jury Comment: “This project is spatially sensitive and very nicely described, but it seems like it’s designed for LA, not a colder climate like Scranton PA. Nice concept of ample access to light and air and programming and activation of outdoor spaces. Design is less efficient in an envelope to interior ratio and the separate buildings limit the adaptability and flexibility of the spaces due to limited interior adjacencies. The separation is an interesting idea but falls apart as the various spaces are intertwined into collective and shared areas. The architecture and aesthetic components don’t feel invested in, and the space lacks inspiration and enthusiasm for an environment meant to inspire creativity and work.”
Checkout the other top entries here.
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