Category Archives: Collaborative Workspaces

0 Modern Office Design Melds Flexibility And Privacy

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Cool, Modern office design

Credit: Biznow

Open plan versus private office the debate continues. It’s likely safe to say that we will end up with some composite of open and collaborative space while maintaining some private offices.

A recent Biznow article describes components of the latest emerging office design trend, dubbed, “activity-based office design”:

The latest model acknowledges that companies may have saved money establishing an open concept floor plan, but in most cases, they did not drive the innovation and collaboration desired. To combat this problem, current designs include areas such as team spaces with standing tables, comfortable couches and movable walls to encourage team meetings and collaboration. The activity-based office design also provides private spaces such as soundproof phone booths or isolation rooms in order to account for moments when intense concentration is needed, or when a confidential conversation needs to take place.

For more information, jump over to Biznow.com.

0 Verizon to Open Cambridge Co-Working Office Space

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cambridge shared office space from Verizon

Credit: BBJ

Your phone provider could be your new office landlord. Verizon is dipping into the market by converting former telecommunication space to office space and partnering with Alley to run it.

From Bizjournals.com:

“Alley, powered by Verizon,” the new membership-only, 10,000-square-foot space in Cambridge is scheduled to open at the end of June at 10 Ware St. The facility served as a central office for Verizon (NYSE: VZ) that previously housed network and telecommunications equipment.

0 Breather Moves to Expand its On-Demand Workspaces

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Breather co-working office space

Credit: Techvibes

Breather is on an aggressive growth mode with a closing on a $40 million dollar round led by Menlo Venture in participation with Valar Ventures, RRE Ventures, Slow Ventures and Real Ventures. The team of Justin Harlow, Bonny Doorakian, Robert LeClair and Wil Catlin is handling their Boston expansion.

From Techvibes:

“Breather has tapped into a real need in the workplace. There hasn’t been a company of its kind offering spaces on-demand,” said Venky Ganesan, Managing Director of Menlo Ventures. “Breather has a tremendous vision to connect the world’s spaces and make them accessible to all.”

Breather has no membership fees or long-term contracts. Instead, the company offers workspaces on a pay-per-use basis through the company’s proprietary app.

0 Co-Working Office Space’s Impact on the Commercial Environment

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Never had this crossed my mind, the social do’s and don’ts of Co-Working and its larger implications.

Co-working office space graphic

Credit: New York Times

From the NY Times:

To get a glimpse of what manners will be like in the office of the future, it behooves us to look at co-working spaces, those offices peopled by freelancers or by workers who have different employers. Many sources predict that by 2020, half of the work force will be freelance.

One theory of etiquette holds that manners are best in communities with fixed populations: If you know that you’ll see Tina again tomorrow (and Tuesday and Wednesday), you’re less likely to surreptitiously scarf down the rest of the half-eaten boysenberry yogurt she left in the office fridge, because daily exposure to her yogurt-based wistfulness will start to gnaw at you, and ultimately turn you into a Munch painting.

0 Co-working Office Space Portends Modern Commercial Real Estate

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WeWork Boston

WeWork

It is clear, Co-working is a valuable resource when launching a company.  Depending on, in part your age, or size of your company, shared space is by far changing the traditional office environment. No longer are we a society of cubes and offices; we now have huddle rooms, phone booths, collaboration stations and quiet spaces.

There’s a variety of co-working options and environments available to applicable enterprises; for instances, at WeWork businesses can receive the following:

HOT DESK
A shared workspace in a common area. When you purchase a Hot Desk, there is no need to reserve a particular workspace in advance each day; you can come and go as needed and use any available desk.

This plan includes access to our digital Member Network, events, and services, 24/7 keycard access at your home location, as well as 2 monthly credits for reserving workspaces and conference rooms.

DEDICATED DESK
An assigned desk space in a large open area shared with other members. This dedicated space comes with a lockable filing cabinet for your personal belongings. Desktops may be set up and left overnight. This plan includes access to our digital Member Network, events, and services, 24/7 keycard access at your home location, as well as 5 monthly credits for reserving workspaces and conference rooms.

PRIVATE OFFICE
A fully enclosed, lockable office space. Your company can add on more offices as you grow. This plan includes access to our digital Member Network, events, and services, 24/7 keycard access at your home location, as well as monthly credits for reserving workspaces and conference rooms that correlate with your office size (minimum of 12 credits for a 1 person office).

You can read more on the Daily Free press website.

0 Open Floor Plan or Private Offices?

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cool office space with slide

Credit: Bisnow

Open space vs. Private offices – what is your position? Are we, as a workforce, moving away from open plans to the more traditional office? Perhaps our private offices are smaller and more efficient? Is this the end of the ‘Creative Office’ as Bisnow describes:

Dot-com companies in the early ’90s struck gold when they put all their employees in a single room (or more often, garage). Since, the open concept plan has widely replaced office-lined perimeters for execs and a bullpen center for support staff, as furniture vendors continued to develop solutions that aligned with those times. And while some industries (tech, creative, communications) adapted more willingly than others (legal, financial), the design world embraced the idea that humans as social animals needed areas to congregate, collaborate and socialize…And from the open office came the creative office. You know the one…it usually has a slide (like HCSS’s Sugar Land office above), or a gourmet coffee bar with lounge area made from reclaimed wood. Elfreda says open office and creative office are similar, but the creative office is definitely an evolution of the former.

You can read Bisnow’s full article on the evolving office trends, here.

0 Bisnow Posts Cool Office Spaces in Boston

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Cool office space in south boston

Credit: Bisnow

The cool office contestants have submitted their new digs. Please have a look and see how yours stacks up.

Bisow recently released its monthly reader pics, noting “It’s been a month since we asked for cool office space pictures, and the submissions have been coming in steadily—with about 95% of them cool (though we did get a pic of a cubicle farm, as retro ’80s as Ferris Bueller; it might be cool again in 20 years). Keep them coming to dees.stribling@bisnow.com.”

Read more at Bisnow.

0 Staples Rolls-out Office Space to Pair with Supplies

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Staples will be offering far more than office supplies; they’re now also providing office space.  Yes, the new rollout will allow you to have office space where you buy supplies.

What they have:

  • Parking
  • Bricks & Mortar
  • Staff
  • Endless supply of supplies and snacks

The real question: do I want my clients to visit me at Staples?

According to a press release, Staples will be opening up communal workspaces at three locations in the Greater Boston area.

0 Shared Office Space Continues to Grow

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The migration from “Me Space” to “We Space” will continue as employers accommodate flex time and independent working.  At PwC the North American worker had 176 less personal pace in 2012 versus 2010.

Liquid space

Credit: FastCompany

According to a recent article on FastCompany.com, “Companies like WeWork, which offers small offices within a shared community of workers on a monthly basis and recently raised funding at a $16 billion valuation, have helped building owners adapt as the renting of vast swaths of cubicle farms in three- or five-year increments falls out of style. But as these real estate developers have watched WeWork rise, they’re looking for ways to more directly tap into the trends that have made the company so successful. “When you look at the growth of, for example, the coworking companies, it’s clear that long-term leases with little flexibility are probably not entirely the way of the future,” says Deborah Boyer, EVP and director of asset management for the SWIG Company, which owns almost 9 million square feet of real estate. Some real estate companies have developed their own prebuilt spaces to accommodate growing companies. Others have partnered with WeWork to design entire buildings with a new type of work in mind.”

You can read the full article on Fast Company’s website.

0 Can Small Businesses Grow and Evolve in Co-Working Spaces

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boston co-working office space

Credit: Bisnow

Yes, you can. The devil is in the details, and at some point when your head count gets above a certain level you will want to create your own company culture.

From Bisnow:

Over just the past couple of years, we’ve watched modern co-working become a multibillion-dollar industry, seemingly right under our noses. WeWork’s now valued well into the 11-digit range, and attempts to jump into the fray are everywhere, from in-house shared space provided by companies like Silverstein Properties, to small operations popping up outside of traditional office districts. But if part of the point of co-working spaces is to help small companies grow, what happens when they do?

The answer: they evolve and develop an internal culture to reflect its products and corporate values.