DESIGN & INTERIORS
TIME FOR A RETHINK
Is the open-plan office design all it’s cracked up to be? Paul Zuidema, Managing Director EMEA at Ergotron, ponders alternative approaches for a more radical business disruption in the modern office.
Having an open-plan office environment has somehow become synonymous with being current and creating a buzzy atmosphere. Many designers highlight the benefits of promoting face-to-face collaborative working, which improves teamwork and nourishes creativity. It is perhaps time, however, to question whether the open-plan office environment is truly all it’s cracked up to be and ponder alternative approaches for a more radical business disruption in the modern office. This innovation is present in many other aspects of our society; preceding approaches to the way we do business have been entirely altered by developments in ideology and technology.
That said, the working environment in any open-plan offices remains largely unchanged. Even if this may be good for the economics of employment, arguably, it is increasingly bad for employees.
If and when widespread disruption eventually changes the nature of the open plan office, it will most likely be motivated by some fundamental issues:
The health perspective It now appears that sedentary working is associated with open-plan offices which, as evidence suggests, is bad for
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personal health. The British Heart Foundation points out that, “people who spend long periods of time sitting have been found to have a higher rate of diabetes cardiovascular disease and death from all causes.”
One study by Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University analysed the financial impact of sedentary behaviour on the NHS. Startlingly, they found that it contributed to around 70,000 deaths in the UK in 2016, and that a staggering 11.6% of all fatalities in the UK were associated with sedentary behaviour.
There are also potential daily health issues, as reported by The Guardian when it featured a study from Canada Life Group Insurance which stated, “those employees surveyed who worked in open-plan offices took over 70% more sick days than those who worked from home.”
The team perspective Advocates of open-plan working will cite the supposed advantages of a busy office environment. But, widely quoted research conducted by Harvard University Business School found that those working in open-plan environments have – paradoxically – 70% less face-to- face interaction with their colleagues than those who work
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