Clinton Selby

It’s an exciting time here in Christchurch, where so many new office buildings are springing up. And with the influx of modern architecture and 21st Century sustainable building practices, many companies are jumping on the opportunity to bring their office design into the 21st Century too. 

Technology continues to evolve apace, freeing us all up to work anywhere at anytime. Yet there’s still a widespread notion that every employee needs their own designated workstation, where they stay all day, head down.  While the classic office still exists, there’s more than one way of getting work done, and office design should reflect this. 

Anyone who worked remotely in the wake of the rebuild will be used to moving between home office, sofa, deck, café, and head office depending on the work to be done and the environment they want. Anyone who used a laptop at school and did most of their homework reclining on their bed, will be similarly used to working in a deconstructed style.

Lara Stancich, STACK Workplace Strategy and Design Specialist, says: “One thing both office-based and remote staff have in common is the importance of the physical environment. For health and wellbeing, changing posture and position throughout the day are important. This is often easier for remote staff, no longer being bound by the strict policies in the office for standard issue equipment. Setting themselves up with multiple large screens, sit-to-stand desks, yoga balls, treadmills – are just some of the perks of working from home, though most people [pay] for these out of their own pockets.”

In other words, people like variety.  Freedom to move around has been shown to increase creativity, so a selection of places to interact with colleagues, or simply take some quiet time should be a part of every office plan.  Bean-bags, hammocks and casual seating are becoming as much the norm as formal meeting-rooms. But we can do even better.

I was delighted to read about The B:HIVE building – a flexible ‘modern-wellness environment’ at Smales Farm in Auckland – designed to combine the flexibility of remote working with the sociability and collaborative opportunity of office-based working. The whole 5-story building is built with flexibility and well-being in mind – flexible zones are located around the central atrium, with moveable studios around the perimeter. All the furniture is moveable and interchangeable, and can be reformatted easily into new or different zones. The goal is complete tenant flexibility. In fact, businesses working within The B:Hive pay rent based on the number of their employees using the space and not by the square metre…meaning they can scale up or down as needed!

The space is designed to encourage collaboration and social connection. James Grose, CEO of co-architect BVN, says “the elaborate stair is the connector of the independent spaces, and works in conjunction with the organic atrium to create multiple sightlines across the dynamic, bustling building. It also provides for ‘bump’ or chance meetings between occupants. In this sense alone, the dramatic stair energises as well as connects the space.”

I can’t wait to see similar innovations coming to the fore in Christchurch.