Warmth, light and comfort
Landscaped offices
22
by Alfred Wilcox
An acknowledged authority on lighting engineering, Alfred Wilcox FIFE, FIES, was at one time director-general of the British Lighting Council. Now sales director of Isora Ceilings Ltd., he describes here elements in the design of services for landscaped offices.
THE Burolandschaft idea is no longer new but this is not to say that actual experience of it is common. To the great majority of people it is another of those technical words the literal English translations of which are not known but words which are nonethe- less reasonably well understood. Buro- landschaft, German for landscaped office', is a concept born out of an Organisation and Methods exercise conducted some 10 years ago and not, as some architects and engineers like to think, out of a natural coming to- gether of technical people imbued with a desire to make progress through co-operation.
The Germans talk quite graphically and feelingly about the difficulties of communication in offices. Their prob- lems appear to be very similar to those experienced elsewhere, in which the transmission of a message from A to B is complicated by the need to consider the superiors of A and B and their in- volvement in what is regarded as the normal line of communication.
The landscaped office concept is an attempt to break down the barriers to easy contact. The feeling is that if A wants to tell B that, say, the box of carbon papers he ordered is now in stock, then he will be encouraged to do this directly and simply if B is working near him and in sight of him.
Of course the putting of people together in this way poses new prob- lems particularly of a social and en-
gineering design character. It is the latter that form the subject matter of this article, and in bare essentials the different components can be listed as follows:
The need to rely on artificial light- ing much more than in the conven- tional office block with its central cor- ridor and window-lit rooms on either side.
The complication of lighting heat. Its thermal benefits are substantial but its presence does emphasise the need for air movement and possibly refri- geration.
Acoustics. The personal and ma- chine noises of the office world can be a distraction if they are not controlled. Ensuring privacy of oral communica- tion can also be a difficulty in the large office.
Window design. It is a temptation to make windows as large as possible in an attempt to increase fenestration. Solar gain and sky glare have to be combated. The very need for conven- tional glazing areas has to be ques- tioned.
A floor grid becomes essential. The skirting board can no longer be relied on as a parking place for power and telephone outlets.
Outline design considerations
An interesting thing to emerge from the early considerations of the integration of engineering services is the extent to which solutions tend to
overlap. This fact immediately exposes the unnatural isolation of much of traditional engineering thinking. It also emphasises the point that some ar- chitects have been making for some time, that better interiors and better buildings are likely to result from the co-ordinated approach to design.
One or two examples can be given of the coming together of solutions in the design of the internal environment. For example, the higher levels of il- lumination referred to demand greater protection against discomfort glare a louver is a good way of achieving this. A louver can also be an effective means of increasing the quantity of sound absorbent material at ceiling level. It can also be an unobtrusive way of moving air between plenum and interior.
Another example is in the selection of floor coverings. Carpeting provides good sound control; it is also a won- derfully flexible form of floor covering as far as light reflection and colour are concerned.
The most important part of this account is the case history information provided at the end about a small col- lection of American, German and Bri- tish deep-plan offices. Readers un- familiar with all the various aspects of environmental design might welcome the following outline account of the fundamental considerations.
Office interiors tend to be low in height usually for good economic rea- sons 9ft. or 10ft. to the underside of the suspended ceiling is fairly common and is not regarded as objectionably low even in very large offices. But flat ceilings tend to become increasingly monotonous with size thereby pro- viding an added spur to the introduc-
Far East BUILDER, December 1970