Open for Business

Office design is increasingly turning to the idea of collaboration – open spaces, with glass partitions and soft seating. Dean Gurden looks at a growing trend.

WE HAVE PROBABLY ALL SPENT time in terrible offices in our working lives – places with little natural light, too many partitions, rows of grey filing cabinets and bosses behind closed doors. Yet few employers pay enough attention to improving the office environmentfor their staff.

It is a point forcefully made by Tom Jamieson, managing director of workplace management specialist Work Inc. “It amazes me that very few businesses have the same plans in place for their buildings and people as they have for growing their business. Two of the major costs facing companies are buildings and people. Most companies concentrate on their clients because that is where the revenue is generated, but they neglect to think about how their property supports their staff and their business strategy.”

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