Design Concepts for A Small Office

A design project from Lund University proposes concepts for a small, open, multiuser office space. The project is transparently labeled “In Our Office”, in that the design students were asked to create “a habitat for young creatives pursuing their own dreams and convictions beyond the beaten track of corporate constraints.” I.e., they are explicitly designing for themselves, and the offices they work in.

“At brief’s heart was what Diez and the students identified as a fundamental shift in how younger businesses are run. In an age of mobile communications and an equally mobile workforce, the reasons why people come to an office are changing. It’s not about a workstation, but more of an arena for collaboration.”

The students tackled problems they encounter in open plan, multiuser studio like work spaces: distraction, noise, flexibility and so on, and produced twelve interesting concept products.

The projects certainly look neat. I’m less convinced about their utility..

They range from lighting to organizing, with several ideas for furniture including a bizarre “bunk desk” which supposedly creates “a distraction-free zone.”

Several concepts are way, way, over hyped. A planter with two flower pots is dubbed “Bablylon – Growing air purifier”, which “solves” the problem of watering plants with a complex system—one that still requires a watering can. “Plug & Play” is a fancy dangling electric outlet, which is allegedly easer to reconfigure than conventional extension cords. “Coffee Corner” is—wait for it—shelves to hold a (small) coffee service.

The most interesting pieces are the ones that expose actual problems (rather than imagined ones). Number one is the challenge of distraction and noise in this wonderfully creative, multi user space. The solutions include the bunk desk mentioned above,  curtains, cocoonlike chairs and recliners, and  strange, awkward “umbrellas”” that “signal “do not disturb””. These devices are attempts to mitigate the fact that a shared workspace is not actually a great place to work a lot of the time.

Worse, none of these “solutions” look plausible to me. Sure, they look cool, but I doubt they actually would work in any real setting.

And this is my overall conclusion. These concepts would not survive testing with actual users, because they either solve non-problems (e.g., watering plants), or offer non-solutions (e.g., “sound proofed” chairs).

Bear in mind that many of these concepts must compete with will tried conventional solutions, e.g., plug strips, flower pots, and generic furniture. And, above all, privacy and sound proofing can be achieved by using walls, and having private work space. What a concept!

I grant you that the exercise postulated that these are struggling designers who cannot afford anything other than a shared space. Still, I would invest in better workspace rather than design concepts that pretend to solve the problems of cruddy working conditions.

One good point: none of these concepts is “smart”, connected to a computer or network service, and none has a touch screen!

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1. Diana Budds, 12 Brilliant Design Ideas For Small Offices (And Small Budgets), in Innovation by Design. 2016, FastCompany. https://www.fastcodesign.com/3059218/wanted/12-genius-designs-for-small-offices
2. Lund University School of Industrial Design. In Our Office. 2016, http://www.schoolofindustrialdesign.com/inouroffice/.