此篇《DesignBIZ View》專欄發布於《設計新商業 DesignBIZ》 電子報 NO.029 期
✦ 點此訂閱 → 掌握設計師、創意總監、創業家的第一手觀察觀點！
最近，一位好友問我：「我們應該找裝修承包商來設計辦公室以節省成本嗎？因為如果透過設計師，那不是會花更多錢嗎？如果我只是分享一些 Instagram 上的照片，承包商就可以幫我們做嗎？」直接找承包商當然可以省下一些錢，但你會希望在你的辦公室看到什麼？你希望透過辦公室呈現怎樣的願景？你想向員工傳達什麼訊息？你期望把公司帶向何方？
我們挑戰過許多辦公室設計，包含傳產：永聯物流開發－物流共和國台北園區辦公室、服裝：H&M 辦公室，以及政府單位：新北市政府辦公室－逗號實驗室等備受讚譽的辦公室專案，我們開始問自己，在辦公室設計中我們追求的是什麼？
重新定義工作場所
問題來了：辦公室設計是否應該關注在成本上？透過雇用承包商模仿 Instagram 上的設計來節省開支，雖然看起來很吸引人，但真正的辦公室設計並不僅僅是美觀和費用。辦公室設計不僅僅是創造一個辦公空間，而是要打造一個能向客戶和員工展示你公司精神和價值觀的環境。辦公室是企業文化和願景的表述。
舉個簡單的例子：我的設計公司柏成設計，著重在討論創意的可能性，集思廣益創造新的可能。因此，我們很早就決定，會議空間和討論角落在我們的公司文化中非常重要。儘管我們的團隊只有 27 人，但我們還是特意設計了六個不同的討論點，讓大家可以快速聚集在一起提出新的想法，平均每 5.4 個人就可以享用討論空間。
公司文化就是空間形象
從微軟辦公室（新北市和南港）這樣的大型企業，到新北市政府辦公室 - 逗號實驗室這樣的傳統機構，我們承接的每一項辦公室設計，都是為體現組織獨特文化而量身定制的。無論預算多少，所期望的結果都應以公司目標為中心，即彰顯身份和個性、如何協同工作、如何促進團隊的健康和幸福，以及如何與客戶溝通。
像永聯的物流共和國台北園區這樣的辦公室是一個好案例，永聯物流開發作為台灣首家，也是最大的機構型物流地產開發商，因為企業文化屬於創業型，在設計空間時，我們應用堆疊貨櫃的結構概念，在開放空間中創造各種角落和工作空間，打破辦公室的統一性，同時利用三種物流業常見的材料：混凝土、波紋鋼板和木箱刨花板，展現公司重要的品牌特質。
辦公室設計對績效、觀感與留任率的影響
良好的辦公室設計還有助於提高員工留任率。我的一位好友經營鉸鏈、鉗子等工具進出口，這是個蠻傳統且不太吸引人的行業，相對來說辦公室設計也非常傳統，充斥著工具箱、沒有燈罩的日光燈、塞滿文件亂糟糟的工作桌等等。他告訴我，在辦公室重新設計和改造之前，很難招聘員工。曾有面試者抵達辦公室，還沒走到門口，就被工作環境嚇到而離開了。
也因此，他知道勢必採取一些行動，而重新設計辦公室就是他的解決方案。他改善照明、安裝升降桌、在室內種植了綠植等設施之後，現在員工留任率非常高，招聘也順利許多。這顯示了老闆關心員工，且想給他們最好的環境。更重要的是，員工士氣大幅提升，也越來越有自信，這樣的轉變說明了有效的辦公室設計如何直接影響品牌形象和工作滿意度。
品味在地風味的辦公室設計
不管我們設計什麼，有沒有當地的思想是非常重要的。但在辦公室設計上，這不容易做到，因為在地化設計常常會變成，將台北 101 的剪影放在辦公室門口，代表你來到台灣，這常在國外的辦事處看到。當我們在設計新北市辦公室 - 逗號實驗室時，我們將台灣傳統的「辦桌文化」融入辦公室家具設計， 讓大家可以一起在一張大桌工作，將本地文化的情感與工作環境連結在一起。
世界的辦公室設計
今年 4 月的米蘭設計週與米蘭國際家具展覽－Salone del Mobile Milano，吸引了所有知名家具製造商和品牌展示業界最優秀的作品，很可惜今年的展覽相較於去年，辦公室設計的創新明顯減少，不過還是有兩個案例想跟你們分享。
瑞士品牌 USM 持續創新經典的鉻管和框架系統。他們這次將照明集中到鉻管中，隱藏電線管路，不僅保持系統的貯物功能，也能同時照亮展示物品。這個作法也促進了友善植物設計，使植物能夠在貯物系統中茁壯成長，這是對傳統儲物系統巧妙的新設計。
至於家庭辦公室，我參觀 Desalto 的展位。Desalto 提供了多種適應性的解決方案，可供小型住宅擴展或減少家具，以最大限度利用有限的空間。它的設計提醒了我們，無論生活空間有多小，在家工作仍然是一個可行的選項，這在疫情後尤其重要。
以人為本與健康取向的辦公環境設計
最後，我想分享一些以「人」為中心的設計，以及讓心靈健康的辦公環境設計策略：
➊ 每個辦公室都需要儲物空間：與其將它們放置在牆邊，不如在中央設置集中式儲存空間，作為一個高 110 公分的中島櫃，鼓勵同事間的互動和討論。
➋ 設計周到的照明：減少長時間在強烈均一光線下工作的不適。如果從辦公桌到洗手間的照明環境能變化，就可以讓眼睛從 8 小時的持續人工燈光中獲得休息。
➌ 綠色設計：最大程度地利用自然光和綠色植物，增加人與自然的聯繫。我建議與綠化顧問和景觀美化公司合作，以確保植物的長期壽命，也要準備一筆維護植栽的預算。
辦公室藍圖的前瞻
辦公室設計的本質超越了節省成本，它體現了公司文化，提升了士氣，並塑造觀感。一個策略性、精心打造的空間不僅僅是一個工作場所，而是生產力、協作和企業身份的熔爐。透過設計思考，我們投資於公司的未來和走進門的每一個人的福祉，讓我們的設計不僅為現在，更為我們的員工和客戶留下長久而深遠的印象。
此篇《DesignBIZ View》專欄發布於《設計新商業 DesignBIZ》 電子報 NO.029 期
✦ 點此訂閱 → 掌握設計師、創意總監、創業家的第一手觀察觀點！
Think office design as part of your company culture, a communication tool.
Price or culture? Recently, a close friend asked me, "Should we look for a contractor to design our office to save costs? Because if I hire a designer, isn't that going to cost more? What if I just share some office Instagram photos that I like as references, and the contractor can build it for us?" Sure, saving a few bucks here and there is possible, but what would you like to see in your office? What vision or spirit do you want your office to embody? What message do you want to send to your employees, or which direction or path would you like the company to take?
As a celebrated office design studio in Taiwan, with acclaimed projects like the Logistic Republic Office, a fashion office H&M Office Taiwan, and a government office New Taipei City Government Office - Comma Lab, we always ask ourselves, "What is it that we are after in an office design?" "What can we do to help the employee and its environment?" "How can design help a brand to give a sense of character and confidence?" and "What 'global conversations' can we add to our client’s office design, so that the office communicates with the world?"
Culture of the Workplace: A Vision Beyond the Price Tag
Should office design focus primarily on cost? While economizing by hiring contractors to mimic designs from Instagram might seem attractive, true office design transcends mere aesthetics and expenditure. Office design isn't just about creating a space where people can work—that’s the bare minimum; it's about crafting an environment that reflects the company’s ethos and values to both clients and employees. An office is a statement of a business’s culture and intention.
A quick example: my design studio culture is about discussing creative potentials and brainstorming new possibilities. Therefore, very early on, we decided that meeting spaces and discussion corners were important in our company culture. Even though we are only a team of 27, we have purposely designed six different meeting points where we can quickly come together and brainstorm for new ideas, averaging roughly 5.4 people per meeting space.
Cultural is the Spatial Identity
Every office design we undertake, from large corporations like Microsoft Office (New Taipei City and Nangang) to more traditional institutions such as the New Taipei Government Office - Comma Lab, is tailored to embody the unique culture of the organization. Regardless of the budget, the desired result should be centered around the establishment’s goals for bringing out identity and character, how they want to work together, how they contribute to the health and well-being of their teams, and how they want to communicate with their clients.
This company culture ultimately evolves into the brand identity of the space: how the space looks and feels, how workstations are placed, how one moves about the offices, whether the CEO sits with everyone in a non-hierarchical layout, or whether there's a top-down seating environment where a manager overlooks every monitor screen from behind. An office such as the Logistic Republic is a good example to share, showing how brand identity can be showcased in the office arena. Logistic Republic (mother company Ally Logistic Property) is now one of the main players of logistics property developers and centers in Taiwan, the culture of the business is very entrepreneurial, and the CEO’s thinking is very startup-like. What we thought most about when designing the space was whether we could create small corners here and there to give employees freedom to be creative, instead of an array of tables. We applied the concept of stacking shipping container-like structures to create various corners and workspaces within the open space and disrupt the uniformity of the office, all while showcasing the company's essential brand characteristics using three familiar materials one would see in the logistics industry: rough concrete exposures, corrugated steel sheets, and wooden crate chipboards.
Design Impacts on Performance, Perception and Retention rates
Employee retention rates are positively impacted by well-designed offices. My good friend, who runs an import-export business involving toolsets like hinges and pillars—a typically traditional and not particularly enticing industry—faced a design that one could imagine to be very traditional, filled with toolkits, exposed fluorescent lighting, cluttered work desks covered with paper files, and old wooden desks that one can't bring oneself to dispose of, adding to the clutter around the office environment. He revealed that hiring new staff was always a challenge, with unforgettable incidents where potential hires would arrive at the company front door, only to look around and then turn away, heading in the opposite direction.
Deciding to take action, a redesign of his office was the solution. He sought the best in office furniture that was ergonomic and height-adjustable, lighting that was healthy for the eyes, and biophilic walls throughout the office. The results were astonishing; not only was the office up to date with today's standards of office language, but recruitment also became much easier, retention rates of existing employees were high, and perhaps most importantly, staff morale increased dramatically, reflecting their growing confidence. It showcased that the company's values were being infused into everything they do, which was evident in their performances.
Have a Bite into Locality.
Whatever we design, I believe local identity is very important, especially in office design. This is not easy to accomplish, as most of the time, this ends up being a silhouette of Taipei 101, or whichever country they are from. Consider the New Taipei Government Office (Comma Lab) as an example. We thought about whether we could design a huge table that allows everyone to gather and work together, similar to infusing the essence of Taiwan's traditional "banquet culture," tying the emotional bond between work and local culture.
The World’s Approach to the Office
With this column set to publish in April, I can’t overlook discussing the Milan Furniture Fair - Salone del Mobile Milano. This event draws all the leading furniture manufacturers and brands to Milan, showcasing the industry's finest. Unfortunately, this year’s fair saw a noticeable decline in innovations in office design compared to the previous year. Nevertheless, I had the opportunity to visit the exhibit of USM, a Swiss brand that continues to innovate its classic rod and joint system. They’ve now integrated lighting into the rods, concealing the electronics to maintain the system’s shelving functionality while also illuminating display items. This addition also facilitates a plant-friendly design, enabling plants to thrive within the shelving system—a clever redesign of traditional storage solutions.
As for home offices, I visited Desalto's booth, which was particularly relevant in today's world affected by COVID-19 and other communicable diseases. It reminded us that working from home remains a viable option, regardless of living space constraints. Desalto offers numerous adaptable solutions for small residences, allowing for the expansion or reduction of home furnishings to maximize the utility of limited spaces.
A Human-Centric Design & Wellness Approach
Here is how I go about developing a practical methodology for all office spaces, using a human-centered approach & wellness thinking, and I’d like to share my approaches with you:
➊ Every office needs storage. Instead of putting them against the wall, centralized storage in the middle of the floor plate acts as a mid-island table at 110cm tall, encouraging interactions with colleagues and peer-to-peer discussions.
➋ Thoughtful lighting: Reduce the discomfort of working long hours under strong uniform light. If the lighting environment can change between your pathway from desk to toilet, that in turn already allows the eyes to rest from the 8 hours of constant artificial light on your table.
➌ Biophilic design: Maximizing natural light and greenery taps into the innate human connection with the natural world and boosts well-being and employee satisfaction. This is not easily done, and I suggest working with a green consultant and plant management company to ensure the longevity of the plants, be ready to have a healthy maintance budget too.
The Office Blueprint Forward
In wrapping up, the essence of office design transcends cost-saving; it embodies a company’s culture, boosts morale, and shapes perceptions. A strategic, well-crafted space is not just a place of work but a crucible of productivity, collaboration, and corporate identity. By investing in thoughtful design, we invest in our company’s future and in the well-being of everyone who walks through its doors. Let’s design not just for the now, but for the lasting impression our spaces will imprint on employees and clients alike.
