The Future of Work...Unlimited recently published Bob Fox's article on "Measuring Office Space For The Agile Worker."
Is there only one metric?
For as long as I can remember, the square footage of space has been the primary metric in the real estate and construction world. However, commercial offices today are evolving in the way they operate, incorporating the telecommuter, co-working, and sharing workspaces. Because of these developments, determining the efficiency of a person in a place has become a serious challenge.
The standard metric concept assumes each person “owns” and occupies his/her individual workstation real estate, but this approach says nothing about the performance of workers who are more agile, or who are working remotely and moving among different locations.
To continue reading Bob's article click here. We look forward to your comments!
by Laura Platt, LEED AP
Project Designer
Not every company gets recognized by leaders from two of the world’s superpowers in the same year. In 2010, just prior to his election as British prime minister, David Cameron acknowledged Opower in an address at the London TED (Technology Entertainment and Design) conference. A month later, President Obama made a personal appearance at Opower’s headquarters in Arlington, Virginia to deliver a speech and to praise the organization’s achievements in the clean-tech industry. The following year, Opower received recognition from the New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN for its leadership in promoting energy efficiency through software. Opower ended 2011 on Forbes’ top 20 list of America’s Most Promising Companies. Not bad for a company that hasn’t even hit its five year anniversary.
Founded in 2007, Opower develops software
by Bob Fox, AIA, IIDA, LEED AP
Principal
Coworking has gained significant momentum in the modern workplace and will very soon be a mainstream real estate option for large and small companies alike. If you are in a traditional office environment now - you have probably noticed that at any given point during the week half of your coworkers are missing, or taking advantage of “mobile workforce” technology. If you are the CFO, you realize that you are still paying for the unused space in one form or another, whether it is lighting, air conditioning, or other recurrent costs that affect your bottom line.
Coworking centers are popping up all over metropolitan areas, and they come in a variety of sizes, shapes and styles. Theses Coworking facilities essentially represent a variable cost, or a “pay as you go” option; not unlike a parking space. These facilities already
BIM [Building Information Modeling] - Integrating Interiors Projects
Jul 28
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By: Melanie Duhon, LEED AP ID+C | Posted in: Design, Expertise
by Melanie Duhon, LEED AP ID+C
Project Designer
Revit has been a dependable tool in the FOX arsenal for many years, providing added-value to both base building and interior design projects independently. Recently the BIM Committee, which consists of select FOX team members who specialize in the subject matter, have embarked on their first, fully integrated interiors BIM model. The 30,000 square foot commercial project, which has been identified as ‘Project X’, will serve as documentation for this process.
Goals for the ‘Project X’ BIM processes are:
- To develop a comprehensive BIM model that is supported, and contributed to on a regular basis by all parties, including the architect, engineer, general contractor and other project-related consultants;
- To incorporate eSpecs that are supported through Revit and have built-in intelligence, i.e.; lights, furniture, equipment,
by Bob Fox, AIA, IIDA, LEED AP
Principal
Office space is an expensive proposition for any company. It is generally one of the largest expenses after people and technology. So why do so many organizations treat it as an overhead expense? The return on that investment will increase exponentially if the space is planned and implemented as a tool to increase employee productivity. To do this, the design must begin with an understanding about what the people working in the space need to do their jobs. You probably move between a variety of spaces, from your private office to the conference room to a collaboration area and back. Most people require different types and amounts of space depending on what they are doing. Perhaps there is unused square footage in your private office but your meeting and collaboration areas are always booked.
Take a typical 10x15, 150 square foot