Category: Thought Leadership

Originally published in High-Profile Monthly. By Dan Perruzzi, AIA, LEED AP, principal and senior partner at Margulies Perruzzi Architects

October 24, 2017 – As the workplace continues to evolve, law firms are also changing rapidly in response to internal pressures and external market forces. Technology, generational change, and new business pressures are just a few of the demands that are creating new trends in law office design. To keep up, law firms are becoming more focused on how the quality of the workplace can reinforce firm culture and help attract and retain talent – and clients – in an increasingly competitive legal landscape.

While other industries are moving to remote work, lawyers still spend 70 percent of their time in the office. However, new workplace strategies are transforming legal offices across the country. Traditionally large office footprints and private offices, spacious law libraries, and the 1:1 support staff to lawyer ratio are fading to make way for new office environments that support today’s work styles, technological advances, and the need for more efficiency and flexibility.

As law firms face global competition, generational change, and leadership succession, these workplace strategies and trends should be considered when renovating, relocating or designing a legal workplace for the future.

Engaging a Multigenerational Workforce
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Generation Y will account for 50 percent of the workforce by 2020, and Millennials will make up 75 percent of the legal workforce by 2025. Research shows that Millennials value a greater work/life balance than their Baby Boomer or Generation X counterparts. Providing innovative ways to better blend life and work, as well as injecting a “fun factor” into office spaces, can help firms evolve with the changing cultural attitudes and expectations across current and future generations. Varied work settings and common areas, like cafés and lounges with casual seating, are becoming more popular. As demographics change and Millennials move into management, expect to see more flexible layouts with larger collaborative spaces for team-based work, and smaller private spaces for quiet work and confidential meetings.

New Ways of Working
Technology is dramatically changing space allocation in law firms. Large rooms once used for law libraries loaded with books are dwindling as that information becomes digitized. Document scanning, e-signatures, and electronic filing are also shrinking the storage needs for document filing. Wireless connectivity and teleconferencing equipment are becoming standard office features to ensure productivity with virtual legal teams and global clients.

Law firms are increasingly turning to real estate as a strategy to create more efficient law practices and deliver cost-effective legal services. As firms decrease support staff and rely on contract attorneys, law firms are aggressively reducing their office footprint. Single-size offices are becoming more common, and space metrics are changing from the traditional 900 to 1,000 square feet per attorney to 500 to 600 square feet, according to JLL’s “Law Firm Perspective 2016.”

New Attitudes About Space Design
Many law firms are incorporating support space designed for collaboration and team proximity, rather than proximity to partners. The old planning metrics of support staff to partners has dramatically changed, and more legal work is becoming group-based within a firm. The legal workplace is shifting from the traditional office/support/library model to spaces that offer open, collaborative areas for teamwork and social functions. Although attorneys still require private offices for focused, individual work, expect square footage efficiencies to continue. Design features, such as low-walled workstations and glass fronted offices, provide greater transparency and better access to natural light and views, and modular construction is enabling firms to efficiently re-design a space as the organization changes and grows. The legal workplace is being designed with an eye toward increased collaboration, enhanced productivity, and greater employee satisfaction.

Lawyers in succeeding generations tend to value the office as a marketing tool, as well as the place where they spend the majority of their working time. As the legal profession evolves, these workplace trends and strategies will have significant impact on how law firms will operate in the future.

About the author
Dan Perruzzi, AIA, LEED AP, is a principal and senior partner at Margulies Perruzzi Architects. Consistently ranked as one of Boston’s top architectural and interior design firms, Margulies Perruzzi Architects services the corporate, professional services, research and development, real estate, and healthcare communities. For more information, please visit www.mp-architects.com.

Originally published in High-Profile Monthly. By Dianne Dunnell, IIDA, NCIDQ, LEED AP, interior design director and associate partner at Margulies Perruzzi Architects

September 25, 2017 – Workplace strategy focuses on marrying three important aspects of the modern workplace: 1) applying better space utilization metrics; 2) optimizing real estate costs; and 3) updating an office space to meet current trends in design and technology. Factoring in employee satisfaction and a company’s ability to attract and retain top talent, there is a clear business objective to creating a work environment that inspires, motivates, and connects employees.

As how we work evolves to include greater collaboration, technology, and mobility, the design — and size — of the workplace is changing, and companies are increasingly asking “How much space do we really need?” The trend in space utilization indicates that 40% of an office’s individual work spaces are used at any given time, leaving 60% of space vacant due to meetings, travel, and rotating schedules. Companies are thus responding by reducing the ratio of square footage per person while enhancing collaboration space and amenities.

Determining a company’s space needs should involve more than just looking at employee headcount. In addition to business drivers, a company’s work culture and use of technology will help to define needed square footage. Keep in mind that the workplace a company designs today must support its workforce of the future. It is important to first conduct a discovery process to identify a company’s purpose, business drivers, culture, and ways of working. Provide employees with opportunities to prioritize what settings will support their work needs and create a workplace with the right mix of spaces.

A successful workplace strategy should prepare for evolving workplace trends and space planning models, including high-performance workplace and activity-based design. These two planning models demand different workspace requirements that are outlined below, in addition to common areas such as reception, café/lunch room, and a quiet room. In general, with a decrease in workstation and office sizes and number, an increase in collaboration space, conference rooms, and amenity space is necessary.

Today’s common planning model, high-performance workplace (HPW), is characterized by open office space with assigned seating and a fixed private office-to-workstation ratio. Workstations are clustered into neighborhoods, and the space has designated zones for high collaboration, meetings, and quiet work. Typically, there is one size each for offices and workstations throughout the space.

An example high-performance workplace that provides 20% of the space for offices, 27 workstations (6’x7’), four phone rooms, and four conference rooms would require approximately 7,900rsf. The ratio would thus be 197sf/person.

An emerging planning model, activity-based work (ABW) design, creates a balanced variety of communal workspaces that correspond to the type of work performed throughout the day. Rather than assigning traditional work settings to employees, this model anticipates that employees will choose for themselves work areas that suit their needs for a particular task or day. This model offers typically unassigned workstations for quiet, heads-down work. Activity-based work design moves an office from individual space to “we” space.

An example space designed with the ABW model, leveraging the same head count and support space program as noted in the HPW planning model, would require 6,660rsf. The ratio, without considering a remote work program, would be 166sf/person.

One size does not fit all. A company may implement a mostly HPW and use the ABW model for select departments or teams. More than 50% of companies are also providing remote working options. A conservative mobile work ratio would reflect 1:1.3 seats to people. A more aggressive goal, where 70% to 90% of staff are mobile, would lean toward a 1:4 or 1:5 ratio.

So how much space do you need? While a HPW averages 150sf to 200sf/person, some firms that embrace technology and activity-based work can achieve less than 100sf/person. The key is to select the right planning model that best fits your future, not current, office needs, based on industry sector. Leveraging digital storage and mobile devices, and following space-sharing strategies, may allow employees to work more efficiently and possibly reduce an office footprint by 50%.

Thoughtful space utilization analysis and design execution will yield a more successful workplace result. View MPA’s workplace strategy video series (or read the full report) at: http://mp-architects.com/wps.

About the author
Dianne Dunnell, IIDA, NCIDQ, LEED AP, is the interior design director and an associate partner at Margulies Perruzzi Architects. Consistently ranked as one of Boston’s top architectural and interior design firms, Margulies Perruzzi Architects services the corporate, professional services, research and development, real estate, and healthcare communities. For more information, please visit www.mp-architects.com.

Originally published in Medical Construction & Design. By Jason Costello, AIA, EDAC, associate principal and partner at Margulies Perruzzi Architects

September 20, 2017 – Restrooms are universally used spaces, but their design in healthcare settings can vary widely based on patient population, room location and layout, and safety concerns. For designers, patient restrooms in hospitals pose the greatest design challenges to ensure that the spaces support healing, comfort, and calm for patients and provide ease of maintenance, infection control, and safety features for facility managers.

The design of healthcare restrooms is similar to that of commercial restrooms with respect to durability, cleanability, and accessibility – but that’s where the parallels end. Given consumer choice in healthcare, medical facilities are designing restrooms with a comforting, home-like feel. Gone are the institutional-looking lavatories of old; today’s healthcare restrooms incorporate new products and technologies that provide a level of hospitality that patients increasingly seek.

Designing restrooms to optimize the patient experience
Whether renovating or building anew, hospitals and healthcare facilities are listening and responding to their patients, visitors, and staff by creating patient rooms and restrooms that are accessible and comfortable for everyone. The trend toward “increased capacity rooms and restrooms” that address weight limitation of plumbing fixtures and a continued focus on improved accessibility, provide the extra space and accommodations that people with mobility challenges and dexterity disabilities need.

Restrooms in healthcare fall into two categories: public restrooms that serve patients and visitors, and clinical toilet rooms that support the clinical functions required of various programs within the facility.

Public restrooms consist of a mix of gang toilet rooms and individual restrooms. These restrooms are often associated with public amenities and waiting areas, and demand a high level of design and finish materials. Porcelain tile walls and flooring provide excellent durability and cleanability for these high-use spaces. A new trend is the use of solid surface materials for the toilet portions, providing a clean modern look while maintaining excellent cleanability and resistance to cleaning chemicals and standard abuse in this environment. Often, gang toilet rooms are supplemented with private toilet rooms designated for family use, gender neutral, and accessibility compliance.

A key challenge with all public toilets is addressing the weight limitations of porcelain wall mounted toilets and the associated weight of users. The risk of injury and breakage can necessitate post-installation fixes of “wood block” supports. This issue requires a critical design phase discussion between infection control, housekeeping, and facility engineering to select a solution that works for all concerned – and avoids a post-occupancy fix.

The second category of healthcare restrooms – dedicated clinical toilet rooms – are designed to accommodate specific clinical needs across a wide spectrum of acuities:

-Medical/surgical patient rooms are often much more like hotel room toilets, complete with shower and hospitality-style finishes with hospital grade durability. As a large number of hospitals are converting semi-private patient rooms to private rooms, toilet rooms are also being renovated to meet current standards. In an effort to minimize demolition costs, hospitals are considering fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP) panels that can be installed over existing materials and provide a new seamless enclosure for the shower and entire toilet room. Further, careful attention is required in the design of the threshold and flooring transitions between the patient room, the toilet room, and the accessible shower to control water within the room and to minimize the risk of slips and falls.
Specialties such as orthopedics may require larger room sizes to accommodate patients with mobility issues. On the maternity floor, private post-partum rooms are being updated with hotel-like amenities, including storage in patient toilet rooms and lighting sconces in new beauty areas.
-Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are often bedridden and unconscious, leading some hospitals to eliminate the patient toilet and replace it with a soiled utility room with a flush sink for bed pan washing and a hand washing sink. This design decision results in a significant reduction in the space required in lieu of a full toilet room. However, as patient families are increasingly invited into the ICU, the incorporation of a full patient toilet room is often provided to accommodate the presence and convenience of the family.
It is well documented that the healthcare environment has a direct impact on patient healing. The location and design of patient rooms, and even patient restrooms, can contribute to a patient’s healing response. Patient restrooms located along an interior wall (inboard) frees up the window line for natural light and exterior views, features shown to help improve patient mood and health outcomes. While they offer more patient privacy, inboard restrooms also reduce the nursing staff’s line of sight visibility to patients. Exterior wall (outboard) restrooms are always specified for intensive care units.
-Outpatient clinics, and their associated toilet rooms, take a variety of forms. If a toilet room is used for specimen collection, it will require a specimen collection cabinet with pass-through adjacency to the testing lab. If a clinic handles drug testing, designers may configure the room to have only a toilet, with a handwashing sink located outside the room or an in-room sink with a remote shut-off water function to comply with government testing requirements.
These variations of clinical toilet rooms require understanding the unique programmatic needs of the individual departments and modifying the design to satisfy them.

Innovation in healthcare restroom materials and fixtures
While new products and technologies for restroom design become increasingly available, healthcare organizations can be hesitant to try something untested in the medical environment. Tile and grout may be tried and true, but grout is still a cleaning issue and tiles can pose a slipping hazard. New restroom materials and fixtures need to pass several standards – and expectations – for hospitality aesthetics, cleanliness, and safety.

For example, there is a growing interest in using prefabricated toilet modules for new patient rooms. Prefabrication in a controlled manufacturing environment provides a better-quality product that can also expedite a tight construction schedule. While the units offer compelling benefits, their use is typically limited to new construction, rather than renovations, due to the access through a building required to install them.

Minimal-seaming products for flooring and solid-surface walls continue to provide a combination of sophistication and functionality for healthcare restrooms. Smooth and seamless wall cladding and large-format porcelain wall panels can create a hospitality feel in the shower, while sheet flooring has become a great alternative to tile, providing a grout-free, easy to clean surface. One-piece seamless sinks with backsplash are a popular choice and offer an anti-microbial surface and sleek look. To reduce infection, automatic fixtures – such as touch- or hands-free faucets, toilets, urinals, and hand dryers – are a given. And while the new low-flow toilets are great for water conservation, old pipes may not have the adequate slope for the low flow fixtures so consult an engineer before installing them in an existing building. A final consideration is a recent rise in legionella cases that have been attributed to stagnant areas of the supply piping, which although not directly a design challenge for the toilet rooms, should be considered if renovating a significant portion of the building.

Bariatric units, as well as bariatric rooms on standard floors, require special consideration for their toilet room design. A bariatric restroom tends to be 20 percent larger than a typical healthcare restroom, allowing for larger clearance of patients and assisting nurses as well as fixtures and doors. A common mistake is that bariatric toilet rooms can double as ADA toilet rooms from a compliance standpoint; however, the bariatric clearances differ from ADA and additional provisions are required to comply. Due to weight load, bariatric toilets use floor-mounted, non-porcelain models with structural floor supports. Grab bars and sinks in bariatric restrooms need steel reinforcements, especially if they are wall-mounted. The introduction of a patient lift into the toilet room for these programs requires a transfer or a customized door frame to accommodate the lift track.

There are many variables in the design of healthcare restrooms, and their size, specifications, and materials will differ based on patient population and usage. Healthcare environments tend to provoke anxiety in people, so the trend toward hospitality design in healthcare spaces, including restrooms, will only accelerate. The choice of colors and finishes can impact patient comfort and satisfaction with a facility, and the choice of fixtures and materials can impact long-term maintenance and infection control. The design team would be wise to collaborate with facility management and environmental services to design patient restrooms that meet everyone’s goals.

About the author
Jason Costello, AIA, EDAC, is an associate principal and partner leading the healthcare studio at Margulies Perruzzi Architects. Consistently ranked as one of Boston’s top architectural and interior design firms, Margulies Perruzzi Architects services the healthcare, corporate, professional services, research and development, and real estate communities. For more information, please visit www.mp-architects.com.

Design firm unveils workplace strategy research available on www.mp-architects.com

BOSTON – Jan. 10, 2017 – Margulies Perruzzi Architects (MPA), one of Boston’s most innovative architectural and interior design firms, today unveiled new workplace strategy research to help businesses envision and leverage their workplace to inspire tomorrow’s talent. MPA’s research promotes a design discussion around the workplace as an environment where a company’s greatest assets – its people – come together to invent, produce, create, and improve lives. MPA’s research is available online and as a downloadable PDF at http://bit.ly/2gb3Bw8.

The workspace is an important physical asset within which a high degree of ingenuity and productivity is enabled. There is a clear business objective to creating a work environment that inspires and motivates employees, and it is extremely important for people to see the missions, goals and ideals portrayed in the physical space. While the design solution will vary by industry and company, MPA has learned that the design challenges remain constant. In compiling this research, MPA draws on more than two decades of working with countless companies to help them create the optimal work environment. For a workplace strategy to be prosperous in any industry, businesses must focus on these critical aspects to:

-Inspire creativity with collaboration and technology, support for mobile work, and quiet space;
-Attract and retain talent by creating community, supporting social interaction, and promoting wellness; and
-Enhance mission engagement by crafting an image and increasing brand awareness.

MPA’s workplace strategy research concludes that today’s office environment is a place of industriousness as much as it is a collegial, social setting where like-minded talents share knowledge and innovative thinking. Given how much time is spent in the workplace, workers need a setting that inspires and motivates, and businesses need a setting that inspires productivity. A strategically designed workplace can accomplish both.

About Margulies Perruzzi Architects
Consistently ranked as one of Boston’s top architectural and interior design firms, Margulies Perruzzi Architects creates buildings and interiors for clients who value the quality of their workplace. The firm services the corporate, professional services, healthcare, science/technology, and real estate communities with a focus on sustainable design. MPA has designed high performance workspace for Iron Mountain, Zipcar, Boston Scientific, Philips, Cimpress/Vistaprint, Forrester Research, Hobbs Brook Management, and Reliant Medical Group. For more information, please visit http://www.mp-architects.com.

Media Contact:
Michele Spiewak
Rhino PR
617.851.2618
MPArchitects@rhinopr.com

Originally published in Building Operating Management. By Joe Flynn

December 2, 2016 – Part 1: Technology Changes and Younger Workforce Mean Mobile Options Are a Must
Thirty years ago, it was somewhat of a fantasy that businesses would one day migrate toward a “paperless office.” Much has changed since then. Technology has evolved in ways that have completely altered the manner in which people work today. With the introduction of networking, the Internet, mobile phones, SMS text messaging, and Wi-Fi, the ways — and more importantly the places — that people work are seemingly unlimited.

Technological changes have advanced how we work so rapidly that it has been nearly impossible to adapt our work environments to keep up with the changes. Today, business leaders are closely examining how to best leverage all this technology to maximize the productivity of their employees.

As the Baby Boom generation begins to exit the workforce, those workers are being replaced by younger, more technology-savvy employees who have been raised to effectively communicate in a highly mobile way. They are accustomed to managing tasks and functions wherever they are, and they are comfortable navigating even the most complicated activities through their phones or tablets. This simple reality has motivated many businesses, which were previously reluctant or resistant to considering a mobile work policy, to instead embrace the concept.

Technology informs planning
The biggest challenge most companies face in getting ready for a mobile work strategy lies in figuring out how the workplace is currently utilized. A growing number of businesses provide tracking technologies that enable facility managers to more accurately document how their work environments are occupied throughout the work day. By developing a clear understanding of the vacancy rate of individual work spaces, and the demand on meeting areas, facility managers can create a more accurate snapshot of workplace utilization. That snapshot shows what percent of staff is already working in environments that are not traditional workstations or offices.

Today, numerous computer-aided facility management (CAFM) and data tracking companies offer sensor-based software systems for monitoring the time and duration that spaces are occupied. These systems can help form a critical baseline of information, but they have limitations. Other suppliers have taken an even deeper dive on utilization by developing software that not only tracks workplace usage, but also leverages real time user-supplied data to document the quality and functionality of a particular room. This information helps facility managers understand which types of spaces are in greatest demand — and more importantly, why.

A careful study of how the current work environment is utilized can show how ready a business is for deploying a mobile work environment. Monitoring both the frequency and quality of space use helps to determine the ratio of workspaces to employees that should be planned for a mobile work environment. Identifying how many unassigned seats should be shared is the ultimate goal. A conservative mobile work ratio would be 1 to 2 — one workspace for every two employees. A more aggressive goal for mobility, where 70 to 90 percent of staff are mobile, would lean toward a 1 to 4 or 1 to 5 ratio.

For example, many cloud-based technology companies are carefully studying their utilization rates and drawing the conclusion that a formal mobile work strategy is not only logical, but in sync with their missions and corporate philosophies. Given that so much of their work product is stored remotely, they view their mobile work strategy as one that enables them to optimize their real estate portfolio, expand talent recruitment, and align with their growth trajectory.

The two most common business drivers for considering a mobile work program are real estate and human resources. On the real estate end, if business operations can be achieved efficiently and productively in a smaller footprint, the cost savings is an obvious inducement. From the HR perspective, companies that are committed to a work environment that supports and promotes a higher degree of work-life balance are very appealing to job candidates.

As more work functions and activities become “mobile friendly,” it is easier to appreciate why both management and staff alike would embrace a remote work arrangement. On the business level, it expands their ability to recruit and retain top talent that may not be geographically within commuting distance. On the employee level, especially those working within global corporations with locations in various time zones, it enables them to work productively the hours that are most effective for their functions.

Rethinking the workplace
Most office environments today are not as ready for a mobile work strategy as the younger tech-sophisticated talent they are recruiting. Many companies still maintain a workplace design that is now a 50-year-old paradigm of cubes and private offices. This layout, though functional, does not support a more agile and collaborative way of working. For a workplace to support a mobile workforce, it must reflect a certain innovative vitality. The environment should foster and encourage a fresh way of thinking, and provide a variety of space options that cater to employees’ different work styles.

The degree of change to the work environment relates directly, however, to the corporate commitment to mobility. A business that is willing to launch a company-wide mobile work policy has a very different challenge than a company that has defined only a small percentage of the workforce as eligible for remote work.

Part 2: FMs Should Consider Two Common Mobile Workplace Methodologies
There are two common workplace methodologies for designing a mobile workplace: immersive and connected. While there are similarities, each concept is distinctly different.

The “immersive approach” is designed to support a business model where space is defined within every department to accommodate remote workers. These spaces are designed to be similar to the company’s standard work setting but are scaled down in size to reflect a shorter stay requirement. The idea behind an immersive plan is to place visiting remote staff where they can socially connect with peers when they are in the office, promoting a higher degree of communication and collaboration among teams. Boston-based Iron Mountain, a provider of storage and information management solutions, adopted this approach to enable its mobile workforce to feel integrated with colleagues when in the office. Businesses whose mobile work strategy is driven by unexpected staff growth often deploy this planning model as it is simpler and less expensive to achieve.

When a company introduces a “connected work” program, it is often a response to having a much higher percentage of remote workers. This approach typically reflects an activity-based design model and does not assign traditional work settings for remote workers. The anticipation is that remote workers, when at the workplace, will identify their own space needs based upon the work that they will be accomplishing during their time in the office. For example, if an employee is in the workplace specifically to meet with co-workers, for training, or to work on a special equipment-oriented task, that person may not necessarily need or want a traditional office or workstation to accomplish those tasks.

Philips North America, a health and well-being company focused on healthcare, consumer lifestyle, and lighting, chose the connected work approach when it introduced its workplace innovation model in its Andover, Mass., office. In adopting a completely address-free design strategy, the company empowered employees to decide what type of space was most efficient and desirable for their specific needs. In most cases, a connected work strategy is supported by base staff and technology that enables the reservation of space ahead of time.

Companies with a workforce that is geographically disconnected often develop leasing relationships with shared, co-working spaces such as WeWork, Workbar, and Regus. These facilities provide functionally versatile work environments for remote workers who, when necessary, require more advanced business tools or meeting space than they have in their homes. As the percentage of mobile workers increases, the demand for these types of satellite support spaces has grown exponentially. WeWork alone has 23,000 customers and more than 32 separate locations occupying more than five million square feet. These co-working spaces often engage in a sublease profit-sharing agreement with landlords, which increases their desirability as a tenant.

For the company that chooses to adapt its own work environment to accommodate a mobile workforce, there are several key factors to consider:

1. Preservation of culture. Every business has a certain ethos that is unique to who it is and what makes it succeed. It is critically important that any change to a work environment supports the company’s brand and philosophy. Change of any kind is difficult, and environmental change can be disruptive — or transformative. A well thought out design execution for mobile work space should integrate elements of the business culture through careful consideration of location, branding, and adjacencies to common social spaces.
2. Technology. For a mobile work space to succeed, it must support the way people work, and technology plays a critical role in this effort. At a minimum, a work environment should provide a strong Wi-Fi signal that allows all workers to access the business network wherever they are within the office. Additionally, a successful design should ensure that each workspace be equipped with an easy-to-use digital display. The proper placement of accessible computers and AV-ready conferencing technology will enable both individual and collaborative activity. Not to be neglected is the importance of digital security. Companies with expanded ease of digital access must find the appropriate balance between protection of intellectual property and convenience of use for its employees.
3. Meeting space. Mobile workers, who are not regularly connected to their colleagues, will inevitably want to spend a larger portion of their in-office time reconnecting face-to-face with their peers. To accommodate that, a workspace should support a larger percentage of various sized meeting spaces. While enclosure is optimal for most meetings, it should be noted that not all meetings are of a highly confidential nature. Common spaces, huddle areas, lounges, and dining areas can also serve this function handily if meeting technology is readily accessible.
4. Quiet space. Working in a space that reflects a high degree of interaction or collaboration may support a team-based work style, but it will not provide the necessary environment for task-intensive, concentrative work. A work environment should serve a variety of tasks and work style needs, so small work rooms or “library” spaces should be designated for quiet, heads-down work.
5. Power and connectivity. Mobile workers will enter the work environment with a host of devices such as laptops, tablets, and phones. These tools are essential to the way they perform their work. Unfortunately, most offices are not designed to support charging all these battery-powered devices at once. In order for the space to become truly functional, careful thought should be given to providing multiple charging stations at convenient locations throughout the office.
Mobile work environments, whether designed initially or adapted after the fact, can be highly productive space as long as they are specifically planned to accommodate the unique needs of the staff who will use them. Thoughtful advance utilization analysis and design execution will yield a successful result.

Part 3: Mobile Workforce Raises HR Questions
The obstacles to establishing and implementing mobile work policy often fall under the HR umbrella. Deciding who should and should not be identified for mobile work can often open a Pandora’s box of subjective measurements. According to Diane Stegmeier, CEO of Stegmeier Consulting Group, “determining which or how many staff can work effectively from a remote location, participate in on-campus mobility, or enroll in flexible work arrangements must take into account three primary factors: personal competencies, job role, and social needs.” These factors are universal to almost every vertical market and should be considered in the decision making of an employee’s eligibility for mobile work.

From a work process perspective, companies need to formally change their practice of monitoring an employee based upon day-to-day work habits, and begin to evaluate employees on their work product instead. By shifting the focus from observed to achieved performance, as well as establishing expectations and productivity goals, management is better positioned to evaluate an employee’s mobile effectiveness. This change in thinking is often foreign to most managers, and a certain degree of change management must take place in order to help transition them from more traditional ways of employee evaluation.

Joe Flynn, CFM, LEED AP, is a senior associate and workplace strategist at Margulies Perruzzi Architects. He can be reached at jflynn@mp-architects.com. The firm services the healthcare, corporate, professional services, research and development, and real estate communities.

Originally published in High-Profile Monthly. By Jenna Meyers

October 24, 2016 – The design industry loves buzzwords to describe office design: workspace that is flexible, collaborative, innovative, agile, and sustainable, to name a few. These are popular words in our industry lexicon because they define many of the sought-after trends that have been sweeping the design scene for the last decade. However, over time these words have become so commonplace that their original intentions and meanings have become diluted. One of the best examples of this is the phrase: “workplace strategy.” The concept has received a lot of buzz and research; clients know they need it. But what really is it and why is it so powerful?

Workplace strategy focuses on marrying three important aspects of the modern workplace: 1) applying better space utilization metrics, 2) optimizing real estate costs, and 3) updating an office space to meet current design trends. However, none of that really means anything unless a workplace is designed correctly. Simply put: workplace strategy is first and foremost about people. A company can have the most streamlined business model and the coolest looking office, but if the space isn’t uniquely designed to suit specific employees and the way they work best, then odds are, the company won’t be operating at maximum productivity and efficiency.

Behind every successful company are engaged employees who have all the tools they need to do their job the best they can. Wouldn’t every company like this to be true? Having engaged employees means having a workforce that is excited about the work they do and the company they do it for. For employers, this results in less staff turnover, greater productivity, and increased employee satisfaction. This is why harnessing the energy of a successful workplace strategy is so important.

Take the concept of the open office. It seems like the perfect facility management solution: reducing the number of private offices results in lower build-out and real estate costs, and an open and transparent work environment can help to foster communication and collaboration among staff. Yet, the open office concept is constantly challenged as being distracting and even disruptive, prompting some to point to unintended consequences such as lower productivity and employee dissatisfaction. However, in most cases, it’s not the concept of the open office that is at fault; the error is in the execution and implementation of designing – and preparing people to work in – an open office. To create a successful workspace environment (open office or not), designers need to be attentive listeners to understand how people work, and then design a space that allows them to be as productive as they can.

Case in point: the design of a new North American office for Cimpress, the world leader in mass customization and its well-known brand Vistaprint. Outgrowing its office in Lexington, Mass., Cimpress decided to move to 275 Wyman Street in Waltham and selected Margulies Perruzzi Architects (MPA) to design an energetic workplace that would inspire creativity, encourage employee empowerment, and promote its culture of change. Cimpress’ previous workspace had an ‘open office’-style culture, and the company was keen to evaluate the concept of a 100 percent flexible workspace to improve upon it.

However, after testing several mock-up designs, Cimpress and the design team recognized that due to the technology and infrastructure required, this concept would end up being more of a hindrance for employees. Instead, Cimpress and MPA modified its approach, outfitting each workstation with a sit-to-stand desk for individual flexibility and creating several alternate workspaces such as quiet rooms and open collaboration areas. Cimpress successfully followed the golden rule of any open office concept: if you take office features away – be it private offices or workstation panel height – you must give something back in return. In this case, the addition of several types of quiet spaces for heads-down work helped mitigate the issue of distractions in the open office.

By taking the time to understand its workforce, Cimpress was able to implement an effective workplace strategy that resulted in an office designed with an eye toward talent recruitment, retention and satisfaction – in other words, its people.

Jenna Meyers, IIDA, NCIDQ, LEED AP, is a senior interior designer at Margulies Perruzzi Architects.

New Industry Standard Spotlights Health Implications

Originally published in Banker & Tradesman. By Janet Morra

June 26, 2016 – We have all become familiar with LEED certification, a third-party rating system designed to document levels of sustainability in buildings. Another new rating system has now emerged, called the WELL Building Standard, which is designed to document levels of wellness supported by those buildings. Where LEED is focused primarily on building performance, WELL is focused on occupants’ wellness and comfort.

While there are some similarities between the rating systems – for example, both are rated by the same third-party organization (GBCI), have a similar structure, rate projects as Silver, Gold or Platinum, and provide accreditation to trained professionals, there are a few major differences. Unlike LEED, the WELL Building Standard certification includes performance verification made by an authorized “assessor” who physically inspects and tests the facility. And unlike LEED, WELL performance must be re-verified every three years in order to maintain certification.

Choosing to gain WELL certification for your facility is certainly a major decision, most typically undertaken at the time of new construction or renovation. What if you would like to dip a toe into the water and find some lower-impact ways that would allow you to improve the level of wellness in your office today?

The WELL Standard is divided into seven categories or concepts: air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort and mind. Each concept contains numerous features that identify areas of concern (102 in all). Here is a suggestion from each of the seven concepts for changes you can make without committing to a major renovation project or incurring major costs:

-Air: Cleaning Protocol (Feature #09). In order to maintain a healthy indoor environment, create and follow a written cleaning protocol with more frequent cleaning of high-touch surfaces (such as light switches and keyboards) and use non-toxic cleaning products throughout.
Water: Drinking Water Promotion (Feature #37). To promote proper hydration throughout the day (and reduce dependence on bottled water), provide a filtered water dispenser within 100 feet of all occupied areas. Clean on a daily basis.
-Nourishment: Mindful Eating (Feature #57). Promote better eating habits and reduce stress by providing dedicated eating areas to encourage employees to leave their desks at mealtimes. Provide a refrigerator, sink, microwave, eating utensils, cleaning supplies and seating for 25 percent of occupants.
-Light: Visual Lighting Design (Feature #58). Provide targeted task lighting at work areas and avoid over-lighting in general areas.
-Fitness: Activity Incentive Programs (Feature #65). Provide incentives to increase employees’ level of activity, such as subsidies for gym memberships, sports team membership or bike sharing programs.
-Comfort: Ergonomics – Visual and Physical (Feature #73). Encourage employees to use a variety of sitting and standing postures. All computer screens should be on adjustable mounts and at least 30 percent of work surfaces should be height adjustable. There are a variety of reasonably priced desk top surfaces that can be used instead of replacing the actual furniture. Seating should also be easily adjustable and ergonomically featured.
-Mind: Altruism (Feature #96). Promote a feeling of well-being and community connections by supporting charitable activities. Offer paid time off for staff to volunteer for community charities or activities. Participating in charitable team activities will also create an enhanced sense of bonding among staff members.

Clearly, there are many more ways to increase and promote wellness within your organization. The advantage to a program like the WELL Building Standard is that it provides clear direction and independent verification. At the moment, the program is very new, and in fact there are only eight certified buildings in the U.S. to date. But much like the acceptance of LEED, it is easy to see WELL quickly catching on as a way for companies to demonstrate their commitment to wellness to employees, new recruits and customers alike.

Further information about this new rating system can be found at www.wellcertified.com.

Janet Morra, AIA, LEED AP, is a principal and partner at Margulies Perruzzi Architects.