workalicious

ravenscroft wood desk

2011-10-03T16:03:00.000-07:00

A very beautiful wood desk by London furniture designer Leonhard Pfeifer via Design Milk.

I like the mash up of simple trestle desk, classic secretary cubbies, and stark modern detail that this desk brings together. Well done.

Ravenscroft Desk at Design Milk

creative desks: new feature at blue ant studio blog

2011-10-01T09:03:00.000-07:00

The blue ant studio design blog has started a new feature they are calling creative desks. Once a week they will feature the desk/work area of creative worker. Here is how they describe it:

We are excited at blueantstudio! we contacted some of the greatest minds in the industry and ask them to submit a picture of the desk where they work. It's amazing the wide range of design ethos that goes into each individual, ranging from peaceful and minimalistic to organized chaos. We will expand on this series every week and look forward to more in the future.

I love features like this because of what the desks reveal about the individuals relationship with the workplace. In almost all cases these are set up by the user, not somebody plopped in a cubical, or a workspace designed for them.

So tune in to blue ant studio regularly to follow along:

creative desks: blue ant studio

vitra's ArchiMeda desk - stand to your heart's delight

2011-06-22T09:13:00.001-07:00

With the blossoming interest in standing height desks, I thought I would do a series of posts of desks available that readily adjust for standing height.

The ArchiMeda desk by Vitra includes a powered lift device that controls the work-surface height. It can be adjusted very rapidly from sitting height to standing height without disturbing your work in progress or your cabled accessories.

via Tonic and archiproducts.

standing desk buzz on the rise?

2011-05-19T05:25:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to see some buzz about standing desks emerging, from the DIY realm definitely outside of the interiors and contract design circles.

All I can say is there are some great companies that have you covered here, and you'd be best served by a truly adjustable stand up desk over a coffee table stacked on a folding table. I know, real office furniture is expensive, but you are worth it. Anthro Carts has you covered. BioMorph has been doing this for years and probably has the best range of task tables that will stand with you.

delta airlines new biz-class interiors

2011-03-08T07:07:00.001-08:00

From HOK's Work+Place blog, some thoughts are offered on the nature of work in the air, and work while you travel in general. Delta has a new business class interior that seems designed for privacy, to allow the business traveler some alone time to unwind with out obligatory mingling with your seat-mates. Or more interesting to us here, is an effective airborne workstation?

Delta interiors at Work+Place

pivot desk

2011-02-18T08:06:00.001-08:00

An interesting wall mounted desk designed by Shay Alkalay. I like the drawer like storage trays. They nest, and tilt out to reveal their contents.

via MocoLoco

welcome to FFFFOUND! visitors, the article you seek is here:

2011-02-09T08:49:00.000-08:00

shed like environments within the office

desktop diaries - new series on npr's science friday

2011-01-06T06:36:00.000-08:00

National Public Radio's Science Friday program has begun a new series called Desktop Diaries where they will visit the desk of the subject of one of their science interviews - often a scientist or other researcher. This series kicked off with a visit to Oliver Sacks, a physician and author.

He appears to have several desks within his office. One with a vast collection of items that keep him company, as you will see him describe. A standing height writing desk which is a very interesting work station. And another small desk by the window which he values for the visual interest of the view, and the sounds. There is much to ponder in his relationship with the workplace he has built, but we clearly get the sense that this is highly personalized, and highly effective workplace for him. The fact that it is so far from the office cubical in its form and disposition I think sheds much light on the fact that there is much improvement we can all make to the environment in which we work. Clearly Oliver's workplace is working for him in an exquisite way. We should all be so lucky.

You can view the video in slightly higher resolution at the Science Friday website.

discover inspiring workplaces at wovox

2010-12-01T20:25:00.000-08:00

I've posted several web sites that post images of workspaces, some of creative agencies, others members posting their own desks. WOVOX is different as they promise to show you inspiring workplaces. Based in The Netherlands they are tapping into an international range of examples. Another good source for inspiration.

WOVOX

icf new mobile workstation: mobi

2010-11-12T16:26:00.000-08:00

ICF has introduced a very clever mobile workstation called mobi. It has a great combination of simplicity and utility that makes it an ideal desk for some of the new work patterns we've been exploring such as CoWorking. It also makes a great desk for home working.

The configuration is simple - a trapezoid work-top is anchored to a fabric covered partition on one end. This allows you to use it as a desk, or a three person meeting table. The desk end is supported by a single pedestal leg, while each end of the partition has a caster wheel. This allows you to easily move it around, like a wheelbarrow. And with its tripod stance its always stable, no rocking back and forth and no adjusting feet to chase away the tipping.

The partition has a gentle curve which emphasizes the sense of enclosure it offers. This simple desk plus partition can then be combined in a number of ways to form small work groups, or lines of independent work stations. Then they can be easily reconfigured to suit the team, or accommodate a changing task as a project proceeds to completion.

What is great here is how easy it is to reconfigure, and how the simple geometry it suggests can combine into many unique desk patterns. I think this is an ideal desk for day workstations in a CoWorking facility. Small groups can quickly join up to collaborate, loners can define their own space, and it can all be quickly moved aside for a special event or Friday happy hours. Yeah - I'm talking to you, all you CoWorkers pushing desks around this very minute!
ICF Mobi - no dedicated web page but can be seen at the ICF web site.

UPDATE: Great link forwarded to me by the Mobi marketing manager - a great introductory video posted at the site of the manufacturer Abstracta, Sweden (ICF is the US distributor):
Abstracta

vitra joyn + meda in the wild

2010-10-14T06:02:00.001-07:00

From the Living with White blog, the headquarters of Method cleaning products is bedecked with Vitra Joyn big table work stations and Vitra Meda chairs in what else but white.

Method at Living with White

short video: The Desk

2010-10-08T10:29:00.000-07:00

"The Desk" from Benjamin Cox on Vimeo.

I really like the way this short video by Benjamin Cox about the nature of the desk in our work life. This really gets at the ideas we've tried to explore here. The desk, the office, as tools in your work life. Perhaps its a tool that is one step removed from things we work with directly such as our computer, our pens and paper. But its no less significant for this relationship, and has the power to either enable or inhibit our work in this way.

office in a metal trunk

2010-08-30T08:05:00.000-07:00

This close-away office is an interesting product. It appears to be made of painted sheet metal, and allows you to close up your work by shutting the two halves like a suit-case on end. Then it can be wheeled away on the castors on the bottom.

A chair - I can not bear to call it a task chair - nests inside, and includes some storage in the base. They are channeling Joe Colombo's Boby rolling storage here.

I could see this being good for a home office, but also for a hoteling situation in an open loft like office space. Suppose a co-working space offered these as part of their different plans. You would rent your office case, and on days you were in the office roll it out into the open office space and set yourself up for your days work.

via materialicious

and ergonomicofficefurnitures.com

shorts to work + productivity?

2010-07-21T10:35:00.001-07:00

An article appearing in the Minneapolis Star Ledger asks the question whether comfortable dress yields greater worker productivity. Linked by @GenslerOnWork via Twitter

ingmar bergman's study

2010-06-18T06:15:00.000-07:00

Looks like a sweet home office to me. A nice simple wood desk, an eames lounge for reading, and a nice window with good light.

Spotted on Flickr, there is a nice slide show at the source link - well worth following.

gunlocke silea

2010-04-29T10:49:00.001-07:00

A new office desking system by Gunlocke was an award winner at this years NeoCon trade show in Chicago. Interesting that Gunlocke traditionally a wood casework company is using glass, aluminum, and solid surfaces here. Makes for a much fresher look and I like when they mix the materials.

Gunlocke Silea

why you can't work at work

2010-04-06T13:02:00.001-07:00

Thoughts about the workplace, why it is not made for work - its made for interruptions. Jason Fried, cofounder of 37signals, publisher of Basecamp and other work enabling software and services.

With its constant commotion, unnecessary meetings, and infuriating wastes of time, the modern workplace optimizes interruptions and makes us all work longer, less focused hours. Jason Fried explains how we can change all of this.

Posted at bigthink.com

one shelley street, an activity based workplace

2010-03-28T18:48:00.000-07:00

One Shelly Street is a work place for investment consultant Macquarie Group in Sydney Australia completed last year. The building was designed by Clive Wilkinson Architects, and the collaborative work platform of Activity Based Working implemented by Dutch consultant Veldhoen & Co.

As the name suggests the work space is organized by spaces designed to support specific activities. There are library like areas with shared tables and desks, small meeting nooks, cafe like table groupings, and traditional conference rooms, all organized around an open atrium.

This loosely structured physical workplace is supported by work practices that facilitate it. For instance incoming paper mail is scanned and distributed to employees electronically. This eliminates one source of paperwork that would gather in files that would otherwise anchor a worker to a physical location. All of the work practices of the organization have been examined and modified in this manner to support the flexibility of the workplace. Workers are able to change their work setting as it suits them and the tasks they are doing. It is in the end an effort to enable the workers to take more charge of their environment and ultimately their work.

We want to learn more about the principles that have been implemented here because there is a direct relationship between workplace design, and work culture in this example. This is really the type of thing we want to explore on workalicious.

Many more photos of One Shelley Street on Contemporist

mobile cart and stool

2010-03-15T06:44:00.000-07:00

This is an interesting pair of storage carts, that also can serve as a make-shift stool and desk. The appear to be made of bent sheet metal in the tradition of economical steel office furniture. I like the way they mimic each other's form while serving different functions.

via Living With White

park pictures offices in lofty warehouse

2010-02-16T15:02:00.001-08:00

The offices of Park Pictures (location unkown - guessing LA) are located in an old brick walled, arched truss roof, warehouse very similar to the original Eames office location.

I love the character of the space, the exposed ducts, and they appear to have a lot of space and many different settings with desks, meeting tables, and comfortable sitting furniture.

Park Pictures by Bruce Bolander Architect via Plastolux

chair as workstation

2010-02-15T11:00:00.001-08:00

I love the idea of this - a chair that is a workstation, with storage cubbies, adjustable work surfaces, task lighting - all built in to a single piece of furniture.

What I think is not successful is the chair. To do real work for an extended period of time the chair itself needs to be as sophisticated as what we see in current front line task chairs. This clearly does not aspire to that, but as a prototype for pointing the way to a new category of work furniture it is very compelling.

Four Works by Four Design

ld desk

2010-02-11T09:55:00.000-08:00

A handsome small home desk via Blue Ant Studio.

LD Desk

rowe - results only work environment

2010-02-09T20:33:00.000-08:00

Results Only Work Environment is a management structure that has emerged at several progressive large companies. It is what it sounds like. The workplace is run on the idea that the results generated by the employee are what matters - not how much time spent in the office, or what brand of suit is worn to meetings. This tends to be supported by an open and loosely structured work place where fixed desks and department organizations are less common. Some functions will always be best served by a fixed work space, but many others can be cut loose to work anywhere, and however the employee sees fit to complete their tasks. With this kind of management the company may be providing cafe and lounge like spaces for the workers, as well as a range of fixed and hotel basis desks, as well as meeting spaces. As a management style it makes a profound impact on the workplace design, and the out-fitting of that workplace. Proper elements in furniture, mobile elements, and software to manage the assets becomes very important to pull of this convention braking strategy.

Online resources for this are beginning to emerge. Large companies may or may not be willing to share what works well for them, so shared resources are important for smaller companies to get a handle on the implications of making a change like this. Some resources:

BusinessWeek article on Best Buy Co's adoption of rowe.

Wikipedia page on rowe, although it is mostly a promotion for CultureRx who seems to have coined the name which brings us to:

The ROWE web site by CultureRx, the authors of Why Work Sucks and How to Fix it . This was the original proposition and the authors now consult on implementing the rowe strategy, as well as sell various self help materials to help you implement it in your workplace.

workalicious now tweeting

2010-02-08T17:59:00.001-08:00

Just a bit of site news for you today - we now have a Workalicious Twitter account, thanks to the donation of the user name by Dave Kaplan - thank you Dave!

We will be using Twitter to post many links we come across, but don't have enough info or visuals to make a blog post from. So this will be an adjunct to the blog - a mini blog within the blog if you wish. It will appear in the right sidebar of the blog, and of course you can always subscribe to it separately as well.

what's working in coworking

2010-02-05T14:23:00.000-08:00

A great blog post from a morning seminar held at Citizen Space, a CoWorking community in San Francisco. The blog post at Shareable gives a good overview of the discussions that day, and it hits on many points we've been raising here.

They mention: some "rent-an-office" businesses have re-branded themselves with coworking to attract business. I don't know that this is a "threat" to CoWorking, but the mantra of community first must really be kept at the forefront when discussing CoWorking. So much of the value comes out of the shared vision and mission of creating the culture of the CoWorking site. In fact - we are going to invent a new term right now to raise awareness of this CoWork spoofing. CoWashing. Look out for it.
What role does corporate sponsorship play in coworking spaces? We recently looked at a new community that is sponsored by office furniture maker SteelCase. For the space it offers stability, for the SteelCase a venue where they can learn about this new kind of office environment. It can have a beneficial symbiosis.

There is much more good food for thought there:

What's Working in CoWorking