Design
Visionary vista: what will the workplace of 2035 look like?
From community incubators to energy backpacks, what would the future office look like if there were no constraints? A competition set up by the British Council for Offices allowed forward thinkers to introduce their most provocative ideas for the workplace of 2035
Four ways environmental graphics can improve employee experience
From wayfinding and visual communications to improving creativity and mental focus, experiential graphic design can play a critical role in how we interact with our workplace
Switching settings: design pioneer in hacking your own workspace
Forget designing the office as a finished box for workers – start thinking about new ways to let people personalise their own space, says Aleksey Lukyanov-Cherny of SITU Studio
Green Sky Thinking: why work buildings should never be finished
Amid economic turmoil, sustainable initiatives are the first to get the chop. But advocates of new thinking from a green perspective suggest it can provide timeless answers to current property problems
Story line: whatever happened to the narrative workplace?
At the turn of the millennium, storytelling in workplace design was all the rage, as big-bang brandscapes dominated the field. Today, we’re more circumspect about a narrative approach. Why?
The business of play: are we infantalising the workforce?
As Silicon Valley’s tech titans open extravagant new corporate headquarters, the issue of turning the workplace into one big creative playpen has sharpened debate on both sides of the argument
Zaha Hadid: the bigger, brighter floorplates of China’s groundscrapers
From creating close proximity to co-workers, visibility across large floor plates and designing office space with the qualities of a city, the atrium is the heart of the building, says Ulrich Blum of Zaha Hadid Architects
Trading stress for wellness: redesigning the trading floor
Forget the Wolf of Wall Street: trading floors can seriously damage traders’ health. New research from architects Gensler, supported by furniture company Erich Keller, explores ways to mitigate stress on the trading floor to improve wellbeing and decision-making
