With Dubai gearing up for the Office Exhibition at Dubai World Trade Centre from 9-11 February 2010, Gilbert Grino of leading UAE-based corporate interior solutions specialist BAFCO, explains how offices have changed over the past 60 years and teh direction they are heading.
As we cross into 2010, the office landscape of the new decade bears little resemblance to that of the 1950’s. Many believe this is largely due to the gradual shift from a service economy to a knowledge economy, with Taylorist offices of the 1950s and 60s, featuring strict hierarchies and paper pushing clerks, giving way to the more democratic and flexible work environments of today.
Over the past few decades there has been a huge increase in the number of smaller companies and larger companies split into smaller departments. This is a result of organisations striving to ensure teamwork and creativity combine to make organisations more than the sum of their parts.
These changes also reflect updated values and technological progress, such as women’s liberation in the sixties, the launch of the desktop computer in the eighties and the internet and dot-com boom of the nineties. In the ‘noughties’, disposable incomes, laptops with Wi-fi and flexible working became prevalent and, according to Grino, the office will change again in 2010 and beyond.
He says, “Technology will play an even bigger role in offices of the future. Apple has just launched touch screen computers and this is a good indication of the direction we will go in the office. Technology is becoming increasingly ubiquitous and I believe in 50 years time physical offices will be primarily used as collaboration hubs. We will not be tied to our desk as our work desk is with us all the time using touch sensitive and holographic screens projecting from our wearable computing devices.
“I see offices in the future to resemble something more like a modern hotel lobby. Digital ink similar to Amazon’s Kindle will be further developed to give us the solution to become truly paperless. New methods and means of processing large data will be required to cope with this. In our lifetimes we will be relying upon different energy sources and, as a result, more intelligent buildings and offices will become the norm.
“The interior environment will adjust according to your specific needs, meaning a central device will manage whatever is optimal for health, safety and wellbeing at all times. Offices and public spaces will be equipped to adjust to personal needs. Everything from temperature to light, air, smell and touch will be personalised.”
Wade Thompson a regional director of one of the world’s largest Logistics companies, CEVA, explains the reasons for his company’s recent redesign of its Middle East headquarters in Dubai.
“It was important for us to realise our staff spend more time in their offices than they did with their families and pressures within today’s multinationals mean staff need an environment where they feel healthy, content and connected, not sitting isolated inside a small cubicle.
“The goal of our extensive redesign was to make our employees feel a part of the team, a focused group that was working together as one. For us the choice needed to be a total package and not just a price per chair. Ours was an investment not only in our infrastructure, but in our people.”
A far cry from the Taylorist office design ethos of the 1950’s. Thompson adds: “I think office interiors are beginning to meld with home interiors. More and more top end executives are realising their workspace needs to be a reflection of their company, themselves and their lifestyle and the office furniture market is definitely answering that call.”
Where Grino maintains there will always be a need for people to share work spaces in order to maximise team working potential, increased flexibility and personal customisation will give offices more informal meeting areas alongside pared down furniture.
“Overall the increased mobility afforded by laptop, wireless technology and PDFs will see desks continue to become smaller, allowing more space for informal meeting areas. With increasing environmental awareness, modern offices will be more concerned with the materials used in constructing the products and the ‘greenness’ of the office environment. It is also likely that efficiency in the use of space will continue to become more important and ways to maximise storage and design solutions will play a bigger role,” adds Grino.
Grino believes offices in the Middle East are some of the busiest and most dynamic offices in the world and organisations in the region are acutely aware of the need to address modern challenges, such as space saving features, reusability, ergonomics, environmental concerns and public spaces in order to become more productive.
Now in its ninth year, The Office Exhibition will feature over 350 companies exhibiting the latest in high-end office technology, products, design and services.
