Future Sustainable Workplace – Is it Herman Miller’s Public Office Landscape?
The latest project from Herman Miller called ‘Public Office Landscape’ explores the latest trends and research that indicate that collaboration is coupled with mobility and we are tending to need to spend less time tethered to a workstation.
The project was designed by Fuse Project and allows for endless flexibility in how the desks, casual work spaces and ‘happen chance’ meeting areas are laid out.
It certainly suits the trends we are seeing around the frugality of sustainability, the ability to be able to save money by needing less office space with activity based working or saving money in changing desk layouts or the look and feel of the workplace.
But I can’t help feel that it has been designed with the boundaries of a building in mind.
The opportunity of mobile internet, wifi and social media isn’t being able to move around in your ‘own office’ it’s about being able to move around in any office – collaborative occupancy.
Occupancy that brings true collaboration by enabling a team of many different companies to be able to sit in the same office for a month or more, or even less, without having to renegotiate leases or pay for office space twice.
Certainly the ‘public office landscape’ workplace furniture is an enabler of the future sustainable workplace but we need a complete shift in the way we ‘lease’ workspace from m2 area in a fixed building to desk numbers in any buildings.
The first company that does that will reap the benefits.
SIMON WILD 