CREJ - Office Properties Quarterly - April 2015
In today’s real estate world, a beautiful transformation is subtly taking place with corporate interior design. In simple terms, this transformation is driven by a growing need for the workplace to express personality and individuality in order to flourish. The concept of craft and the infusion of authenticity into design is an effective way to deliver this personality and, as such, it is a high priority for companies to manifest those concepts into their workspaces. To that end, companies are taking great care in teaming themselves with skilled designers to differentiate their culture and validate their image. In the past, the human element slipped away as workspace took on a more standardized environment due to an emphasis on quick technology and trend-driven design solutions. This eroded the human element, which in turn led to personal disconnection and loss of workplace identity. As the pendulum swings away from depersonalized space, a renaissance of human-centered design focused on craft and authenticity is emerging. With it comes a celebration of diversity, individuality and increased collective thinking. The best models of individuality and diversity are found in nature and animals, and designers are referencing nature more than ever before. They are employing the inherent geometries of divine proportion found in plants, bringing the outdoors in, and introducing organic shapes to soften and humanize office space. The joy we experience when we see the cerulean blue feet of a blue-footed booby, the brilliant red feathers of a cardinal or the skin pattern of a lizard validates how we emotionally react to genuine originality. The pattern, color and ingredients that identify and define certain species in nature can be reinvented in interior design to identify and characterize a company’s personality and corporate DNA. Because collective thinking is driving new business solutions, reconnecting people to people through the workplace versus the computer is in itself a transformational concept that needs attention. I believe that how this is accomplished has more to do with how powerfully a company’s personality can attract the bestsuited people, and less to do with adopting the latest workplace trend when laying out a space. To that end, interior designers are stepping back from their industry’s saturated landscape of workplace trend buzzwords, and considering them as thought-provokers to initiate the desired changes. While trends are effective benchmarks for metrics and establishing social history, it is important that they not become overly prescriptive or inhibitive manifestos. Designers have a responsibility to understand the genesis and the trajectory of workplace trends, but it takes a skilled designer to distill the ideas and forecast which aspects of a trend best fit the ideology of a company’s work space. Looking at each client more carefully and individually will peel off any stereotypes and reveal the company’s most relevant core values. The expression of these core values is where “craft” can have a substantial impact. Craft implements the realization of image and authenticity. Craft is an art or trade that requires skill in execution. A high level of skill and execution of details within a space can convey a very positive message about a company and its product or service. Conversely, poorly detailed materials will demonstrate a lack of thought or ingenuity and will deliver a negative message. A simple example of craft is the straightforward and powerful use of millwork in a space because it lends a warm familiarity and a tactile quality, as well as a calming effect. Taking a natural material like wood and applying it in broad, unexpected ways inside a space is a modern approach that shows artistry and advancement. The details surrounding the joinery and transitions to other materials can provide a sense of discovery and appreciation by the people inhabiting the space, and the osmosis of this environment pervades the minds of the people and the attitude in the workplace. In this way, it silently creates and reinforces the company’s brand. The outward-oriented culture and balanced lifestyle in Colorado is the perfect stage for human-centered design, and Denver firms with satellite offices in nearby regional cities such as Boise, Idaho, and Salt Lake City are leading the way through example. With every new lease, companies are capitalizing on the opportunity to design space that engages a new set of values and taps directly into the inherent cultural and contextual qualities of the city. In doing so, they are also tapping directly into the hearts of their employees. Design authenticity draws people to other people, places and ideas. In particular the expression of craft in corporate interior design is one of the most powerful conveyors of brand in which a company can invest. A well-crafted working environment can psychologically promote higher standards, heighten the self-image of the people working there, bring people together and increase productivity.