Above: This Schiavello design features the Krossi, a sit/stand workstation for greater flexibility across a wide range of workspaces.
As the way people work becomes more diverse, so too are the spaces they need to facilitate this work.
Tennant says that one of the greatest trends is making the configuration of office spaces diverse.
“We try to get a deep understanding of work styles and work modes. So rather than spending all day at a single desk and popping into a meeting room, we are seeing break-out lounges, circulation areas, informal seating, and standing work areas to facilitate serendipitous encounters and random acts of creativity,” Tennant says.
This “activity-based working” has often been referred to as hot-desking.
“It comes back to the idea that a standard desk for every person is an outdated notion now.”
Coster says the key to these “activated spaces” is balancing them with areas for concentrated work.
Above: This collaborative space in Transfield Services was designed by PTID Environments.
A few years ago sustainability was a buzzword when it came to office design, but Tennant says it should now be simply “good practice”.
“Basically, traditional office buildings are underutilised and sparsely populated – so it makes sense to populate them with more people,” Tennant says.
“It is also sustainable. Having huge buildings running lighting and air conditioning and not having many people in them makes no sense.”
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