Offices as communications tools: space planning in the 1990s.

"In the virtual office, keeping other staff up-to-date on projects has both an added urgency - since you can't just peek your head into the office down the hall - and complexity - when and how you communicate with colleagues. And this turns even the simplest organizational decisions into complicated,

By tearing down the walls that had confined business to discernible, quantifiable space, proponents of the virtual office hoped to "reinvent" the twin concepts of work and the workplace. Instead of place, there would only be action; where there was paper, only electronic puffs; for mortar, modems. Why meet for a meeting when a mere phone call would suffice?

As many found, however, work would not so easily part from its place. The liberation expected by breaking down the walls did not come, and new barriers to effectiveness rose in their place. One of the interesting side effects of the hype and lessons learned from the virtual office is the recent re-dedication by space planning teams to make offices better tools for what they originally did: bring people together.

"There is a realization that architecture will affect the bottom line - not just through higher density ratios, but better space utilization," says Carl Mirbach, partner in charge of Design for The Phillips Janson Group, New York City. "Companies are thinking that the way they work is different; they need more open, interactive environments that can change on the fly."

A great part of this "realization" has focused on the interactive spaces - areas of communication and community - that were neglected by the virtual office (and, come to think of it, much of the space planning that preceded it). "What's interesting is that the open areas, common areas, and conference areas are being used in much more multi-faceted ways," observes Marilyn Z. Sygrove, head of Sygrove Associates, a New York City-based interior designer and space planner. Sygrove uses the analogy of a neighborhood: "You live in a house, but you go to a common area to interact with the community, whether it's a mall, a ballfield, or a church. The common area is changeable and has to be adaptable or ready for multiple uses."

"Mutual contact, the social aspect of work: This is the key issue for office environments today," agrees Soon Woo Kwon, president of InfraDesign, Inc., an architecture and consulting firm also based in New York City. "Instead of private offices, we see gathering spaces, cafeterias, lounges, game rooms - designed with better productivity and internal communications in mind." Even the office areas, he notes, are geared toward that professional contact. "Inter-office communication is more important than visual privacy. I sense that the choice of partitions is changing, and the heights are coming down," says Kwon. "Some have no partitions at all; that is direct communication."

Robert F. Ladau, AIA, of the architectural firm Hillier/Eggers, New York City, sees this as a commonsense trend. "Even the open bullpen afforded interaction with co-workers; there was a constant banter with the people around you, and that is important," he says.

But the drive toward increased community space, he adds, while warranted by better visual communication and the need for decompression, is hampered by economic reality: "The overriding problem is cost," Ladau explains. "Many facilities managers ask, 'Can't we use these unassigned spaces? Aren't breakout areas wasted space?'"

The trend, it seems, is to compress workspaces by up to 30 percent over standards set less than a decade ago, and to include flexible interstitial spaces for decompression and team decision-making - two activities rendered impossible by some dated and discredited open plan designs. According to Phillips Janson's Mirbach, this new generation of space plans comes in variations of two basic conceptual types:

(1) a hybrid open environment with office systems, flexible spaces, and the rare enclosed room; and

(2) a space with a raised floor, a universal ceiling, and everything else on wheels.

While type (1) is by far the most prevalent, many companies are giving serious thought to the ultimate flexibility in type (2).

The reason is the sheer speed of change in the business world. "Clients used to dutifully fill out the programming questionnaires, but now they say, 'We don't know who we are or where we are going,'" Mirbach explains. The programming process is still critical to good planning, but the planner's foresight and critical analysis are ever more vital. By relying on interviews with upper management and every distinct job type, the space planner must synthesize information on future growth/change scenarios with data on present limitations and unfulfilled needs.

Some office users have latched onto (2), the mobile open plans, which work like modular convention floors: Offices and conference rooms can be configured overnight, with furniture wheeled into place as needed for impromptu meetings and the like. "The problem with the concept is that the technology doesn't come cheap," notes Ladau. "And people have to come in after hours, like stage-hands in a theater, to get it ready for the next business day. I don't know if it's justified; the jury is still out on that."

For those companies with reasonably well-established needs, the hybrid office environment, type (1), offers a workable selection of more permanent and recognizable tools. For the new offices of Siegel & Gale, a corporate identity consulting firm based in New York City's Rockefeller Center, a floorplan was devised based on such components as "open field," "permanent pavilions," and inventive shared spaces, says Mirbach, who used a planning analogy akin to Sygrove's. "The layout is very much like a town or city or campus," Mirbach explains. "And the installation is more like a townhouse development: a higher density, but with communal spaces."

Bringing the New Urbanism indoors, the inventive space design reflects a town planning approach to the point of including a Main Street corridor and distinct neighborhoods. "The workspace has a central focus to it, a square - we have even called it Central Park - which is a library surrounded by 12 team rooms," says Mirbach. "An effort was made to provide a high variety of workplaces so that [employees] are not just perceiving their workstations as their only space."

Yet, associates at Siegel & Gale are treated to office systems that are well-designed, high-end products imported from Italy, with glass sliding doors and clerestory partitions. "They also provide a neutral grey backdrop for all the lively creative materials from projects they are working on," Mirbach adds.

Once outside of their work areas, employees may exploit such spaces as the permanent pavilions, ranging from high-tech conference suites to a cafe-style lunchroom with a terrace overlooking Rockefeller Plaza. Team rooms offer adjustable levels of privacy, and flex spaces provide the fixtures and backdrops for creative get-togethers. The most striking aspect of this project is the state-of-the-art feel of thoroughly contemporary finishes, which enhance a highly ordered, yet flexible continuum of functional spaces ranging from office walls to open floor.

Where "spectrum" space planning of this variety is not an option, communication-enhancing plans are made possible by clever use of adjacency and appropriate furniture selections. At the Korea Exchange Bank's Park Avenue offices in New York City, "The most active space is a common area, or lounge, which has both cafeteria-type tables and comfortable sofas, as well as a kitchenette, phone, and other amenities," says Kwon. "We strongly advised ... [to] put it on Park Avenue, a prime location. Now, actually, a lot of business is done there, while sitting and drinking coffee. That was a good decision."

This interaction is tempered by a strong sense of hierarchy and close managerial oversight at the Korea Exchange Bank, in accordance with the client's wishes. The clear advantage of the unassigned spaces is their use in customer service and dealmaking. "Another of the most active gathering spaces is a temporary expansion area, which is along 57th Street windows, where people sit and talk about issues," Kwon remarks. Intended to allow room for future installation of additional workstations, the area with conference tables and a fax machine is a contingency space in the true meaning of the word.

Enhancing communication through good design like this is often a matter of simple amenities that turn good facilities into great work tools, Sygrove adds. At Philips Research in Briarcliff Manor, NY, where her studio just designed a lobby renovation, scientific collaboration is a highly valuable asset. So to maximize interaction, marker boards are located by cafeteria tables, and notepads and pencils can be found on almost every nondedicated horizontal surface. "They're scientists, so when an idea comes up, they want to be able to express it," she explains.

Like those scientists, all business teams benefit from having the right work tools readily available. "I think people are looking to redistribute space and make it more productive and profitable," says Sygrove, thinking back on a number of projects she has recently undertaken to reconfigure existing tenant spaces, often as part of workletter negotiations. Hillier/Eggers' Ladau confirms the trend, pointing to the re-thinking and modernization of the Time-Life Reference Library as a good case study in floorplan re-engineering.

"The redesign paralleled Time-Life's move into the 21st century," explains Ladau. "The division would no longer be a library but an 'Editorial Resource Center' with data resources and on-line services. We supported this effort by planning for a more logical flow of work and, in fact, they reduced the amount of space they were working in." By efficiently accommodating the work process with an appropriate, communication-enhancing furniture system, square footage savings were masked by a cleaner, more open overall look. "We also made use of off-site storage and archives," Ladau adds. "You don't need to store paper in $60 per square foot, triple A space."

Employees are sympathetic to space reduction trends, says Sygrove, although they might expect something in return. In many cases, she believes, "They're saying, 'I don't need as much space to do the task at hand - but I do need a comfortable space; my office must be human.'" Not every employee is involved in the belt-tightening. "Where the offices for middle managers and clerical staff are getting smaller and smaller, the executive offices are growing and taking up the slack," notes Ladau. "The downsizing of space standards is hardly egalitarian."

Paralleling the growing gap between stellar executive pay and stagnant staff salaries, office size and status increasingly underscore the hierarchical nature of the business world. Notwithstanding a few suspiciously over-publicized cases in which CEOs moved into cubicles with everyone else (invariably to make a point about some "paradigm shift"), most executives require bigger offices to accommodate more room for new responsibilities and diverse tasks.

Part of the trend is certainly the ancient pursuit of tangible symbols of status or seniority or both. But the growth of the executive suite also echos the increasing responsibilities of senior managers in ever-flattening corporations: Those who survive the downsizing are asked to do more (often with less), so managerial quarters with a range of useful spaces might be indispensable.

At the Korea Exchange Bank, for example, Kwon developed a highly flexible executive suite to support a range of corporate and client needs. The general manager's large corner office has a surprisingly small desk; two straight-back chairs suggest that this is where the G.M. debriefs his deputies. Also in the office: a table for four, and a leather couch with two matching chairs around an ample coffee table - now, this is where some deals are made. In the wings: a 14-foot-square waiting room (also with plush furniture), the executive washroom, and a large secretarial area.

Like the rest of the office, with a program that supports internal communications, spontaneous brainstorming, and above all, client service, the G.M.'s office is only in small measure a study in corporate power. It is also a statement: "Our customers, clients, and colleagues are important to us. We want them to feel at home here, and to look forward to coming back."

Outside of the executive area is where the action really is, though, according to facilities managers and space planning specialists. Enhanced productivity is both a layout and furniture issue, says Kwon. For communication, he recommends a lower partition: "As a principal, I need to be able to close the door occasionally, but the open plan affords better managerial oversight as well. That is part of the communication issue - you can see whether your team is on the right track, going in the right direction."

As for workstations, Kwon prefers effectiveness over square foot slashing. "Many companies have gone with 6- by 6-foot workstations; for many information age workers, they're just too small. You put a computer and some peripherals on the desk, and a few reference books ... and you have no space left!" Like others, Kwon feels that the 6- by 8-foot cube is adequate, and the 8- by 8-foot models are ideal for base workstations that support successful enterprises. For many financial clients, he has designed trading stations and workstations at 46-inches-high. "It's the magic number for highly interactive settings," says Kwon. "You have total eye contact, but your desk is still private."

While the needs of each project and each company are peculiar and distinct, dictated by type of work and corporate culture, the two major trends outlined by Carl Mirbach seem to be the ones making waves in the business world. A recent cover story by Business Week noted some of the companies that are investing major dollars into making their offices work better. It also mentioned some that are trying to make their offices go away.

"Now, of course, you have a cellular phone, computer links to work with your secretary, and the Internet allows you to take - theoretically, at least - the world's reference material with you," says Hillier/Eggers' Ladau. "There is, however, the need for human contact." Some have already found out the hard way, through flashy failures of virtual corporations that did not live up to expectations. Yet, leaders in business thinking expect these experiments to continue as long as the allure of lower rent bills lingers.

While a study by the International Facility Management Association (IFMA), Houston, last year showed that 83 percent of the companies it surveyed are exploring alternative officing strategies, it is unclear how many have committed to "anti-officing" strategies, such as hoteling, telecommuting, or virtual teaming. Even more mysterious is whether those anti-office companies and divisions are suffering from lack of focus, poor communication, productivity loss, or eroded self-esteem. One thing is clear, though: These brave new workers are missing an important business communications tool that has proven its value over centuries.

As the title of Syman's Wall Street Journal editorial suggested, "There are no water coolers in cyberspace." There are also no "Central Parks," swing spaces, rolling file cabinets, coffee machines, shared printers, pin-boards, game rooms, or cafeterias. And most sorely missed is the human face - perhaps the most inspiring and comforting amenity offered by the modern office.

C.C. Sullivan is a New York City-based freelance journalist, specializing in commercial real estate issues. He was formerly Senior Associate Editor at BUILDINGS Magazine.