Local Firms Push For Collaborative Spaces
Is the cubicle dead? Are the days of tightly packed rows of partitions populating an office space over?
To some business owners, the answer is a resounding yes.
Take eClinicalWorks, for example. The electronic medical records company purchased a two-story, 100,000-square-foot building at 2 Technology Dr. in Westborough and will be fully refinishing the interior with a new gymnasium complete with showers for workers, a full kitchen and cafeteria that has an on-site chef, and a volleyball court in the back of the building.
Inside, the building will have an open and inviting feeling, with natural light penetrating through the glass conference rooms throughout the building.
“This is something we’ve taken very seriously,” said Girish Kumar Navani, CEO and co-founder of the company. “We’ve spent a considerable amount of time on this process, because we really think the inside of the workplace is of significant importance to the current generation of workers.”
Considering Space
For some companies, gone are the days of monotonous Dilbert-like office setups. The 21st century workplace should emit auras of collaboration, creativity and comfort, Navani argues.
More businesses are making investments in amenities in an effort to keep their workers productive. Navani said he wants eClinicalWorks’ employees to be happy because they will work better and stay at the company longer.
“I think people are understanding that creating comfortable places for employees is really important,” said Lisa Killaby, a principal at ADD Inc, the Boston-based interior design and architecture firm that has helped eClinicalWorks design its new offices.
But having a fancy building with various amenities isn’t just about making workers comfortable, it can also be about reinforcing a brand and reflecting a corporate identity.
That was one of the goals for IBM when the company created Mass Lab, a massive workspace for 3,400 of the company’s employees in Littleton.
The building has color themes consistent with the traditional IBM logo. Parts of the ceilings, lights and walls reflect that color scheme too.
Even more important than the look of the building, however, was a mission to encourage a collaborative work environment. While the company still has desks and cubicles for employees, they are arranged in what Beth Friday, an executive with the company, called neighborhoods.
Part of the idea for Mass Lab was to bring together various businesses that IBM has purchased over the past few years under one IBM roof.
The company wanted to integrate them with the larger company, but still wanted the workers from the individual companies to be comfortable working with their peers from earlier companies. So IBM set up clusters of desks with large meeting areas in-between them. They are meant to be a place where impromptu discussions and gatherings can be held.
And oh yeah, the building also has a gym with showers, a cafeteria, outdoor basketball courts and bicycle storage space to encourage workers to leave their cars at home.
More Modest Approaches
Not all businesses go all out with their corporate offices, however.
BJ’s Wholesale Club, based in Natick, will be moving its corporate headquarters to the former National Grid building in Westborough during the first quarter of 2011, and company spokesperson Kelly McFalls said it will be a no-frills type of move.
BJ’s stores, she said, use low-budget designs. The member’s club retail stores are usually in a warehouse-type setting with exposed steel-beam ceilings and floors.
“We don’t want to go over the top with our corporate offices,” she said. “That wouldn’t be consistent with who we are.”
BJ’s is currently headquartered in a five-building complex in back of a retail center in Natick. Just having most all of the employees under one roof will be an upgrade for the company, she said.
Other than some new paint on the walls and new carpeting in the building, McFalls said the company is basically leaving the National Grid building as it is. They will move some furniture from the old building into the new one and will use some items that were left in the building.
Companies not going all out on their business designs is not a surprise, according to Anita Sandberg, director of the interiors group for Gorman Richardson Lewis Architects in Hopkinton.
“Certainly with the latest economic downturn, businesses are looking for efficiencies in the way space is used,” she said.
Many companies, she said, are downsizing to smaller work stations and desks for employees.
Also, now more than ever, employees are telecommuting or working from home and only coming into the office a few days a week. That allows businesses to have communal desks and workstations that are shared among multiple employees.
“Businesses are looking very carefully at the amount of real estate they really need to function and to function well,” she said. “It just doesn’t make sense to pay for empty space.”
And the other major priority for businesses: To be green.
That is not painting the walls green, but having energy efficient buildings.
Gorman Richardson has a green checklist that businesses can use to make sure they’re using efficient products, including lighting fixtures, as well as recycled or reused furniture.
Another reason BJ’s may not be investing in many amenities is because the National Grid building already has many of those features, including meeting areas and eating spaces.
For other businesses, the insides of a building are designed based on what they hear from employees.
Sunshine In
Unum, the Tennessee-based insurer, is constructing a new office in the CitySquare development in downtown Worcester, which company officials are hoping to begin construction on in 2011 with a move-in date of late 2012.
Having plenty of exposed windows to allow natural light in the building was one important request from employees, said Paul Larkins, director of corporate planning and construction for the company.
There will be no closed-door offices on the outskirts of the floors, rather those offices will be situated on the interior of the building to maximize external light coming in.
The company is also hoping to stay consistent with its color schemes and furniture designs in the building to make them consistent with other Unum buildings around the country. Larkins said that’s not just to create a consistent marketing or “feel” of Unum buildings, but it is more cost effective too.
The new facility will have a gym and it will also feature a large conference room that will be able to hold up to half of the 700 workers in the building at once, something the current building does not have.
Plus, he said, workers have new expectations for buildings. Whereas years ago offices may have an audio or video conference room, now there is an expectation that each conference room will have some sort of audio, video or presentation equipment.
“We’re not going to go out and build a Taj Mahal in Worcester, but at the same time we want a building that our employees are happy to come to and happy to work in everyday,” he said. “That’s important.”
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