Designing appropriate officing solutions

Real Estate Weekly, May 17, 1995 by Guy Geier

The new emphasis is on "Appropriate Officing," which addresses the use of space consistent with the specific requirements of the users. Through the application of strategic facility planning and programming techniques, facilities managers and designers are posing questions such as: What are the company's work patterns? Do we need large closed offices? Do we make the best use of offices when they are vacant? What kind of spatial arrangements are required for the way we do business today?

Different variations of Appropriate Officing allow people to share space, to exchange offices with ready access to phone systems and computers, and to work together in groups in common areas. The main quest of Appropriate Officing is to design work spaces that accommodate the employee, while at the same time make the best use of space.

Space planning concepts that provide Appropriate Officing include: (1) Hoteling; (2) Free Address; (3) Universal Plan; (4) Caves & Commons; (5) Temporal Office; and (6) Shared Space. Analyzing the company through strategic facilities planning and programming techniques enables the designer to dovetail company business goals with real estate objectives.

"Hoteling" is based on a concept of unassigned offices. It relies on the employee to reserve office space as needed. For example, when an accountant plans to be in the office, a call is made to a company concierge to make a reservation; he then checks in as he would for a hotel room.

The "Free Address" arrangement calls for a smaller number of workstations than the number of employees. In a sense, it resembles a game of "musical chairs" because it features the fulfillment of an office or workstation requirement on a first-come, first-serve basis. It works because technology enables each person to use the phone and computer by logging in their personal code to access e-mail and files. This type of arrangement works well for sales people, brokers, and auditors.

The "Universal Plan" is predicated on the idea that people can move easier than walls. If employees can accept that space is not a "perk," uniform work stations and same-size closed offices can work for a greater number of people. This maximizes flexibility and minimizes the time required to re-shuffle space after re-organization, growth or downsizing.

"Caves and Commons" is designed to provide small, unassigned private work stations combined with open common work areas for the purpose of teaming. These central spaces require support for desktop computers, vertical spaces for audio-visual materials, and marker boards. This variation provides a stimulating environment for creative groups in advertising, design and research activities.

Exploring the Options

Strategic facilities planning and programming views the company from a macro and micro perspective, taking into account its functions, structure, and position in the marketplace. Through several phases of analysis, the planner identifies the organization's goals and culture, elicits feedback from employees, scrutinizes functions, reviews current and future staff projections, and examines adjacency needs.

The planner also evaluates the entirety of the organization's real estate portfolio, looking at ways to utilize facilities to the maximum and to reduce or eliminate space. Other important considerations are HVAC systems, power requirements, and code compliance.

Recently, Hillier provided strategic facilities planning and programming for a "Big Six" accounting firm which relocated and consolidated into 325,000 square feet of space at the World Financial Center. The most important issues to be addressed in the design of the new environment included communication, computer technology, and accommodating an improved and more flexible organization.

The relocation and consolidation involved restructuring the New York practice into industry - oriented Business Units. The planning solutions accommodate the overlap and co-mingling of market sector and functional organizations, allowing for an evolution toward a total "Business Unit" environment.

As companies continue to undergo organizational and philosophical changes, they need to develop a blueprint for planning their facilities. By linking business goals, trends, and strategies with real estate, more sound design and capital investment decisions can be made - boosting the level of employee productivity and the company's bottom line.