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The Evolution of the Office: How Modern Offices Have Evolved and What to Expect in the Future

Offices are familiar to almost everyone. We know they're generally in large buildings. They’re where people go to work. It’s where you sit down in front of a computer to work on projects or come up with brilliant ideas. However, what might not be common knowledge is where the office came from or when it first began to appear.

Over the past 50 years offices have changed in both in terms of design and technology. It was only 50 years ago when we were sitting at our desks equipped with just a pen, paper and a typewriter. The workplace is constantly evolving and adapting. As new technologies and work practices come to the fore the office environment is subject to change. David Brouder of All Systems shares this interactive infographic charters the evolution of the office from the mainframes of the sixties to cloud computing and beyond.

As seen in Social Media Week.

Inside Facebook's New Frank Gehry-Designed NYC Offices

Facebook has settled into its 185,000-square-foot office in the historic Wanamaker Building at 770 Broadway near Astor Place, and to mark the occasion—and make everyone else feel sad about how completely boring and inadequate their offices are—they're unveiling the space with an event (and feature in the Wall Street Journal). Frank Gehry designed the new work space, now home to 500 employees and engineers. The floors have open layouts, there's a full service cafeteria and a library, as well as all of the things that one thinks of when picturing a hip tech company office, i.e. gaming tables, exposed ceilings, and custom-made art.

Read the rest of the article and see more photos here on ny.curbed.com.

The Shrinking of Personal Space at Work

Forget standing desks—some companies are doing away with assigned workstations entirely.

First they came for the offices, replacing four-walls-and-a-door situations with desks in cubicles, even for workers of considerable stature.

Now they're coming for the desks themselves.

On both sides of the Atlantic, big companies are moving toward more flexible setups that do away with assigned workstations. The financial motivation to make the most of premium office space is primary. But another big driver now, and going forward, is mobility.

Read article from The Atlantic

An Ergonomic Setup Guide: Sit-to-Stand Workstation

With the workplace changing, now more than ever, there is a focus on health and wellness. Research shows that moving throughout the day increases workplace satisfaction and morale, while reducing discomfort, ultimately decreasing employee absenteeism. Height-adjustable tables play an increasingly important role in contemporary office planning, offering flexibility, personalization and advanced ergonomic performance. The following tips will help set up an ergonomic workstation that ensures overall health, wellness and productivity.

1. Table Height
Table height or input devices should be just below elbow height when sitting or standing.

2. Keyboard
Keyboard should be within easy to reach and within the width of your shoulders.

3. Monitor
Monitor should be at eye level, approximately an arm’s length away from you.

4. When sitting
The task chair should be able to fully support your back and the chair height should be set to allow your feet to fully touch the floor.

5. When standing
You should distribute your weight evenly and stand tall, and ensure that the keyboard and monitor are still set appropriately

DOWNLOAD "AN ERGONOMIC SETUP: SIT-TO-STAND"

Source: www.knoll.com

The Millennials Are Coming!

Young people are clashing with traditional working environments, but soon they're going to be all the workers. Does the environment need to change, or do they?

Next year, people born between 1981 and 1996 are poised to become the new workforce majority and will eventually remake the workplace in their own image. That means office culture is in for big changes. As a new survey shows, this generation is already chafing at today's traditional company structures.

Read Fast Company's article "Millennials Will Become The Majority In The Workforce In 2015. Is Your Company Ready?".

Give your employees a space they look forward to coming to

Your office needs more nooks, less sitting. Creating paths for chance meetings, including nooks, and designing agile, unique workspaces are solutions that designers say promote collaboration, creativity, and productivity in the modern office. See Fast Company's article "Workspace Design Trends To Increase Your Productivity".