The 21st Century Cubicle

Source : The Business Times, 21 Sep 2007

New office designs could boost productivity, but local companies are slow to adopt them, reports GEOFFREY EU.

IT HAS been considered an inexact art - and one that has escaped closer scrutiny in the past - but furniture systems are no longer taking a back seat in the overall office environment scheme of things.

Given the high cost of renting workspace these days in cities across the globe, companies are paying greater attention to where and how their employees work, based on the not-unreasonable assumption that a happy, healthy worker is also a more productive one.

Here in Singapore, the general consensus is that multinational companies (MNCs), guided by directives from headquarters and the need to have a consistent corporate look in all their offices, are usually much quicker than local companies when it comes to innovation in office design. Corporate decision makers have also been affected by industry leaders in the United States and Europe.

‘The more advanced countries will generally set the trends,’ says KT Ong, chief executive of Vanguard Interiors Group, a leading supplier of furniture systems, with offices around the world. ‘We are influenced both by North America and the Europeans, since we have MNCs from both these blocks.’

He adds: ‘The North American solutions are always panel-based while the Europeans usually employ more desking (open space) systems. In Singapore, we have the best of both worlds because we have more options and we can adopt what works.’

According to Mr Ong, the two most influential factors in determining office design are people and the cost of commercial real estate.

‘Companies want to attract the good workers and they also want to retain them,’ he says. ‘Also, because of the high price of office space, they want to make the most efficient usage of space. In broad terms, productivity and space efficiency are major factors.’

Five years ago, rented office space in Raffles Place cost about $3.50 psf, says Mr Ong. Today, the same space is going for $15 psf.

‘Space is a precious commodity,’ he says. ‘Beyond that, human resources are even more important. Because of increases in rental, companies are prepared to pay more to be efficient - if you can save more space, it’s worth buying the concept.’

Just a dollar a day

By his estimate, furniture that costs an average of, say, $4,000 per work station and lasts for 10 years is only costing a company roughly a dollar per day - a worthwhile investment for a worker who earns that same amount per month. ‘Can you afford not to spend that dollar?’ he says.

‘Before 1998, we were catching up well with the trends in office systems but between 1998 and 2005, companies started cutting back,’ says Mr Ong. ‘Now, people have become a precious commodity again and companies are starting to spend.’ Several years ago, the cluster system, with workers seated around work stations and facing each other, was a popular concept. These days, the bench system - typically a long table in an open space where people sit across from each other - is the space-efficient concept of choice.

Swiss-German furniture maker Vitra, a well-known manufacturer of high-end designer furniture, is one company that has placed its bets on the open office space. The company noted that removing physical and psychological barriers in the office would improve communication between employees.

‘What people seek at the office is the opportunity to interact, to benefit from the knowledge and experience of colleagues and to solve problems better and faster through collaboration,’ said the company in a recent release. ‘These things are facilitated by open office structures.’

The company has developed a system - which it has introduced in its own offices in Weil am Rhein near the Swiss-German border - that reflects this line of thinking. It is based on the ‘Net’n'Nest’ theory: providing a communal environment conducive for communicating with colleagues, while also providing a ‘nest’, an area for workers who require more privacy for work or informal discussion.

Specific products for ‘nesting’ include, for example, the Alcove sofa, which features high peripheral panels that cut out exterior distractions and creates a protective environment.

‘It’s a little like fashion - whether it lasts or not we don’t know,’ says Mr Ong of Vanguard. ‘The work environment is getting more complex and it cannot be one solution - it must be multiple solutions.’ He adds, ‘My feeling is that over time, clients will not accept any one solution for the office - it depends on the needs of the respective departments within a company.’

The most important factor is productivity and not rental cost, says Mr Ong, and furniture cost amounts to a fraction of either salaries or rent. ‘So why compromise by buying a cheap local system?’ The ability to change system configuration is also important, he adds. ‘You want to have the mobility, which will be a key feature of any future trend in the industry.’ A mobile system like Free, by New Zealand firm Formway, represents the look of the office system of the future, he says.

Cubicle-style offices are definitely giving way to desking and bench systems, says Rayner Neo, managing director of Dream Interiors, a distributor of furniture and office systems. ‘Before, it was most common to have typical panel system, enclosed in a cubicle with high partitions. Many systems are now along the wall, spine-style,’ he says.

For example, banks are going for open, clean concepts, he says. He adds that manufacturers are also encouraging changes, due in part to advancements in technology. ‘It also depends on the type of business, how much privacy and interaction is needed.’ In many instances, storage space does not have to be next to a worker’s desk, it can be movable or located in a central storage area.

‘The horizon level is coming down, storage is more collective and centralised,’ says Valerie Blaisdell, sales director for Knoll Asia Pacific, which represents American furniture systems. ‘The biggest trend is towards benching, although in Singapore only the progressive companies are moving in this direction.’

She adds: ‘The trend is starting with the financial institutions. As the business environment becomes tighter and people are trying to attract new employees, you have to be careful with what you do to your office space - it needs to be quality.’ However, she adds that furniture budgets per person are actually getting lower.

What works for whom

According to Ms Blaisdell, the ratio of open-style offices to closed-style ones in the region is now about 80:20, compared to 60:40 previously. Managers’ offices are less often clustered around windows - in some instances, mid-level managers are sitting with their people (although not so much here in Singapore), creating more of a ‘team’ environment.

Certain types of companies in Singapore have actually been keeping up with the shifting trends in office design, says Chris Devitt, group director at interior design consultancy Steven Leach + Associates.

‘You have to look at what drives the idea that people are going to work in a non-traditional way,’ says Mr Devitt. ‘The ‘driver’ comes from the organisation itself, depending on culture and company strategy.’

He adds: ‘A number of multinationals have been investing in this for a long time because they have offices all over the world. The MNCs may have the right office culture for alternative work styles, but we also have to look at the tools that allow you to implement these ideas.’

According to Mr Devitt, technology companies, consumer-based companies with regional offices here and knowledge-based companies that require an environment that stimulates creativity are the prime candidates for alternative workspaces. ‘It would never work with lawyers and back offices,’ he says.

‘The trend has been for the big MNCs to look at different ways to work. The difficulty of doing this in Singapore is an incredibly tight labour market and high office rents. Here, they don’t look at different ways of working, they look at how many people they can cram in. It’s cost-driven - people are looking at the bottom line when it comes to Singapore. If the top management doesn’t see it, it will never happen.’

Mr Devitt says that there is also a growing awareness in the workplace about sustainability. ‘It will become more of an issue and has to do with the quality of the environment, the quality of the furniture, ergonomics, the quality of materials being green, non-toxic and recyclable - this is going to be a massive thing for the future.’

He adds: ‘The lead on this trend is Europe-driven. Ten years ago, it was all US-driven. Singapore is not behind - there are people who are trying to incorporate this all the time but it’s just the local companies that still don’t see the value.

‘It takes brave companies to look beyond the initial cost. Also, how do you manage a space where you have open areas and relaxation areas? Local companies don’t see it as an important issue - it’s like you’re pulling teeth to get a nice chair. The general feeling with local companies is, whatever it costs, it can be cheaper.’