CREJ - Journal

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28 / BUILDING DIALOGUE / MARCH 2015
D o you have a “real” office? The kind with
fixed walls, a ceiling and an actual door? Do
you need one, want one, lust after one?
If so, why? Is it a status thing? Is it about comfort,
privacy, productivity, silence? Or all of the above?
In a business world dominated by “open” work
places, you’d certainly be in the minority if you did
land yourself a private office.
In fact, a recent study by the International Facility
Management Association noted that approximately
70 percent of current U.S. offices are designed with an
open plan of some kind, which may include low par-
titions, no partitions or “communal” tables or benches.
This is not a newsflash for anybody in the office de-
sign industry. But could this “trend” possibly signal the
eventual extinction of the fixed office? Hardly, even if
the data may suggest otherwise.
For starters, the cumulative success of open plans is
perpetually up for debate, especially lately. The narra-
tive keeps changing as new data unearths confusing
or contradictory feedback from primarily open system
work places. One reason for this is the dizzying array
of commercial furniture products available in today’s
marketplace, and how they are employed in any given
space. So the term “open plan” is not a one-size-fits-all
solution in any event. In general, however, these prod-
ucts are designed to reduce the real estate footprint,
lower construction costs and, in theory, boost produc-
tivity in office spaces without fixed walls.
This is not happening, however, especially not to
the satisfaction of business owners who have sharply
transitioned to the open office without fully taking the
pulse of the company’s culture. (Maybe stripping away
all those private offices wasn’t such a great idea after
all.) The impact is that office workers in open plans are
pushing back and pushing back hard. Does this mean
that a significant subgroup of those people lost their
private offices after a remodel or move? Absolutely.
While we don’t have the hard data to support that
just yet, local anecdotal evidence is everywhere we look.
One seasoned executive here refused to partake in
any design discussions that included a workstation for
himself, even though his superior – the company presi-
dent – agreed to buy into the concept. For the executive,
it was a private office or nothing. He got the office – the
only one in the space – because it was in the company’s
best interest to accommodate him, and keep him. This
doesn’t always happen, of course.
A senior Denver office broker’s boutique firm was
acquired by one of the global giants, which granted pe-
rimeter offices only to regional and national directors.
Despite his misgivings, he accepted the position and
Katie Bisgard
Senior
Project
Manager,
Kieding
TRENDS in Private Office
Following the North Star
The U.S. Air Force Academy’s new
Center for Character and Leadership
Development topped out in January, with
the final truss placed atop the skylight.
Architect: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
LLP. Construction: ECC; concrete services
and field supervision, GH Phipps.
Corporate Office
5995 Greenwood Plaza Blvd.
Greenwood Village, CO 80111
303.571.5377
Colorado Springs, Colorado
496 Nevada Mesa View
Colorado Springs, CO 80907
719.633.4673
Fort Collins, Colorado
4800 Innovation Drive
Fort Collins, CO 80525
970.776.5500
Laramie, Wyoming
3840 Fort Misner Lane
Laramie, WY 82073
307.745.4866 1-877-5PHIPPS
INSPIRE LEAD DELIVER
Photo by GH Phipps
©SOM