No_6_June_1969 — Page 32

Padded screens and potted plants create a relaxed environment

that performance is impaired when workers are tied too long to a single location. A short break in a different atmosphere refreshes the mind and increases productivity. The relaxation area allows sufficient seating for ap- proximately 10 per cent of the oc cupants of the office at any one time

The only other separate compart- ments in the entire office are an interview room, conference room and soundproof machine room.

The background

Development of the panoramic open plan began with the basic reali- sation that office work was an opera- tion in which people did things together and that an office was a place in which work flowed from one area to another.

These factors had to be recognised before plans could be made that would satisfy the demands of the groups of specialists that are dependent upon one another when they are working on a major project.

of modern office techniques, made planners realise that there would be a need for greater flexibility of layout and this could not be provided by constantly changing the position of partitions. Anyhow, the moving of partitions is a very expensive and con- sequently undesirable operation, and it certainly could not be considered as a routine procedure.

It became obvious that an office had to serve the functional needs of groups of people of varying levels and skills instead of catering for traditional organisational requirements. However, no improvement in co-operation or communications would be achieved if specialists were grouped together for work purposes and then placed in separate rooms.

This reason, allied with the trends

of office would be a very unhappy environment for the people who should theoretically benefit from it, so an entirely new approach was required. What was wanted was an area that would provide the advantages of an open office and overcome the disad- vantages associated with this style of layout, such as loss of status, restricted privacy, distraction, noise discomfort The conventional open plan type and loss of individuality.

Reception area

ENQUIRIES

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Far East BUILDER, June 1969