From the Community Blog

The office must become more flexible to meet today’s dynamism, sure to only escalate. Pods will likely become a permanent part of this equation for many teams, as they are effective today and versatile for tomorrow — mobile and user-friendly, they are the flexible backbone of a flexible office. Indeed, pod-based flexible office design addresses many present business challenges: the current shift toward in-office working, unpredictable occupancy fluctuations, growing diversity, and pending inflation. As the gig economy booms, with an increase in freelance, contract, and remote workers, the need for flexible office setups that can cater to different working styles, team ...

The approach to sustainable design often feels like a solitary process. Sometimes it feels like a competition among peers to stand out in the market. For others, it’s an overwhelming challenge that feels impossible to solve. The truth is that we are not meant to solve the issue alone. Everyone within the design space, from the designers themselves to the technicians, manufacturers and business leaders who work alongside them, all bring a unique perspective and talent to the table. It will take all of us doing our individual part while collaborating to tie those parts together to reimagine the future of ...

In most recent years, business finds increasing shareholder and stakeholder demands for a stronger commitment to corporate responsibility including the adoption of environmental and social policies incorporated into their corporate governance. These expectations are defining corporate success with a measure of corporate values tightly connected to outcomes. Governments and communities realize the power of business to influence change and are leaning into organizations to play a greater role in progressing both environmental and social issues. Under the framework of ESG, business leaders are asked to address these larger societal concerns. ESG connects the success of their strategy to long ...

Just as retailers vie to lure shoppers from making their purchases online to visiting their stores with the promise of real-life experiences, landlords and employers today have inherited a very similar challenge and must now strategize on how to attract workers back to the office. Thus, commercial landlords find themselves in an entirely new domain of a competitive market—and the plot continues to thicken. Decades of quiet evolution of the office environment have achieved lightning-speed level of acceleration in the past couple of years. Since the dawn of 2020’s infamous Q2, workers’ expectations from their workplace took a left turn to ...

As summer came to an end and I prepared my son to head back to school, my thoughts drifted back to a time when my work was focused on designing schools. No matter if the project was for a higher education or grade school client, even decades ago we spoke of the need to create environments that would better serve learners of all types and styles. The wish was to one day help institutions break away from the traditional “sage-on-the-stage” educational model and embrace an approach that is more engaging – one that offered greater connectivity with students, promoted enhanced ...

After taking a brief hiatus from attending NeoCon in the wake of the pandemic, I was thrilled to be presented with the opportunity of returning to the show as a first-time Best of NeoCon juror. I’m pleased to say the experience did not disappoint. As I arrived early to the show, I was able to get a sneak peek and in-person look at a plethora of innovative solutions and discover the commercial design industry’s biggest trends. Throughout the show floors, the emphasis on workplace agility in particular struck a chord with me, as it’s the answer to a challenge ...

Too many thoughtful designs are diluted by the time they’re built. Yours needn’t be. Visionary design always means taking risks. Traditionally, the riskiest step is handing off the design documents to let the construction team take over. However, by ensuring breakthrough design solutions can stay intact for your clients, you’ll help shape environments and experiences that deliver on the full potential to spark brilliance. Surprise costs and technical issues throw a wrench into any plan, which can result in design changes that impact the design vision – and not always for the better. Rising materials costs, economic volatility, supply chain challenges ...

The Power of Well Designed Workplace Dining Areas At work the other morning, an announcement came over the office P.A.—a vendor was giving a presentation in our library. The world is healing from the Pandemi Moore! I thought. (Because who calls it the Pandemic anyway?) Expecting pastries as we learned about new design products, I rallied a few new co-workers: “Come on! There are usually snacks for these presentations!” We arrived, and…betrayal. No food! I was now a liar, and my dear mother would be so disappointed. I turned to the younger staff and profusely apologized that I had bamboozled them into ...

What is neurodiversity, and why will we continue to hear more about it in our industry? Judy Singer, Australian sociologist, coined the term Neurodiversity in 1999.1 Neurodiversity describes the different ways our brains are wired, leading to unique skills, needs, and abilities. Individual differences shape social dynamics, cognitive functioning, motor skills, attention, sensory stimulations, speech, language, and learning. Like biodiversity, the term neurodiversity does not intentionally define a certain subgroup of individuals, but rather speaks to the infinite variations of the way people think. In contrast, there is a movement utilizing the term neurodiversity to empower select subgroups with diagnoses. ...

As a major launchpad for ideas and introductions that shape the built environment, NeoCon illustrates the tremendous amount of energy that goes into designing, manufacturing, and installing every component of any given space. What happens to these materials when it's time for a renovation? Embodied carbon consists of the carbon dioxide emissions generated by raw material sourcing, supplier processing, and manufacturing, building construction and demolition. The beneficial recovery and reuse of architectural materials also encompasses all of the interior furnishings such as furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E) that are a major source of embodied carbon emissions. This includes everything from office ...