provider making an overall pilot group of nearly 80 staff. The EPT’s moves manager, working over a single weekend, ensured that the new layouts were completed and staff returned to work on the following Monday, commencing their tasks with no disruption being reported.
The pilot
was allowed to operate for a period of several months but feedback obtained during the initial period of operation proved to be reliable in assisting the EPT to amend its designs and propose solutions to the relatively minor complaints identified. A confidential questionnaire allowed staff to be as robust in their criticism as they chose and in many cases the less polite responses were interpreted as ‘letting off steam’ to a certain extent, with low satisfaction ratings received for the telephone and ICT provision, items that had in fact remained unchanged ! Amendments made to the designs in advance of a roll-out of the model across Perceval House were; acoustic treatment of certain areas to modify sound characteristics of the building and noise impact from higher density layouts (utilising simple acoustic foam panels and sound masking technologies), a single co-location of senior management (an echo of the office layout of Corporate Board made during the initial BWoW roll-out), ‘touchdown’ workspaces at the end of linear runs of workstations (ie. the areas closest to primary circulation routes), new personal lockers to replace existing pedestal storage and informal ‘breakout’ meeting space embedded within the office layout. This last element returned to design concepts contained within the original BWoW and subsequently abandoned for the initial roll-out and was a response to concerns regarding the impact of informal meetings or discussions at workstations upon, more closely- packed, neighbouring staff.
The ‘instant’ effectiveness of the new layouts was amply demonstrated by the seamless integration of two hundred former ALMO staff amongst their housing department colleagues within a single floor of Perceval House – the new layouts installed and re-occupied over a period totalling a few weeks. Within the EPT office pilot surplus space has been created to permit successful negotiations with a partner organisation to occupy the space closest to their host department. As the ‘final’ BWoW model rolls out across the building, further examples of this sharing of workspace with partners from outside the Council will be developed and negotiations with a variety of organisations are underway. When achieved, the occupancy of Perceval House will mirror the predicted curve
included within the BWoW pilot study presented to ACES in 2002/3 (although the timeline – an apparent ‘delay’ of 2.5 years on delivery - will indicate the impact of various events on the programme). Rental contributions from partners will serve to reduce Council accommodation overheads and lower the overall cost per worksetting as an additional benefit to the service opportunities presented by ‘co-location’ and as an example of the Government’s drive towards ‘multi-agency’ delivery.
“Superbuildings” and “ealingspace”
A key component in a ‘flexible working’ strategy is the provision of viable alternative locations for staff to work effectively, be contactable as required and to be safe. At the time that the original BWoW pilot was being developed there was considerable interest in various types of ‘homeworking’ (BT Workstyle, Surrey Workstyle, etc.)
Given the pressures
upon the EPT to deliver rapid improvements in occupancy within Council office buildings it would have been of great benefit to be able to incorporate a degree of homeworking into the overall BWoW strategy.
However even the most
cursory discussions with managers concerning matters of; ergonomics, productivity, direction and supervision, ICT connectivity and health and safety revealed a far greater number of issues than could be economically resolved at that
Horizons Centre
time. It was concluded that, for the immediate future within the Ealing context, homeworking would generate useful, if relatively minimal, reductions in office workspace demand and far less than other factors such as; off-site meetings, leave, courses, sickness absence, etc.
In research undertaken
since the original pilot study that has included occupancy measurement and staff questionnaires and despite rapid advances in mobile-working technology, homeworking remains a growing but not yet sufficiently important contributor to workspace efficiency. Similarly enthusiasm in the early 2000’s for the potential of internet cafés and coffee shops to provide alternatives to conventional office space has also been shown to be somewhat misplaced. A number of unhappy experiments conducted by more enterprising staff members into these modes of working during the BWoW pilot and reported back in questionnaire form, made amusing reading but convinced the EPT that alternative concepts would need to be explored.
Westside - model of proposed accommodation 12
In early 2006 the EPT received a brief from Ealing’s Director of Services to Children and Young People to develop a facility that would provide education, training, social and life skills for older, “looked-after” children. In discussion with the client it was agreed than an element of the new building might provide office accommodation, principally for staff attending
THE TERRIER - Autumn 2011
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