Category: Office

The big overhaul of the Sydney office was a success, according to Stacey and Tania, who just spent most of that conference call rhapsodising about it. From what I can tell, the main attraction is the wall-to-wall mural that’s essentially a trompe l’oeil filing system. Beats me how that’s a good thing by any measure – aesthetic, functional or otherwise.

The only thing I can think of is that it works on a nostalgic level, given that paper-based filing is all but dead these days. Still, why not use the wall space for something useful, or at least fun? I’m not sure that purely nostalgia-fuelled novelty has much place in forward-looking office interior designs. Sydney businesses know that office layouts are about more than mere novelty. What it should really be focusing on, when it comes workspaces, is creating an environment that assists people to get their work done. That’s my two cents, anyway.

I guess I need to see this thing in person to really have an opinion on it. It just seems like, if said mural is the most noteworthy aspect of the reboot, then the design might not have a whole lot going for it in terms of actually being a good space to work in. But it does come down to what you’re looking for in an office fit out. Sydney workplaces might have different priorities, like being on top of the trend for early ‘00s stuff that seems to be going around.

Maybe I’m taking too clinical a view of this. I mean, if the mural in question somehow helps bond the millennial-dominated team together through shared recollection of their formative years, as represented by carefully labelled binders and A4 plastic sleeves, then there could be something to be said for it. Even a minimalist of the first order (like me) can appreciate the functional value of that effect.

If there’s one thing that being a design snob has taught me, it’s that it’s always worth being open to new ideas.

How do you motivate yourself to work when you’d much rather be checking your full moon horoscope, or investigating what the prime minister has been up to on social media? I seem to have a bit of a problem with all of the above, and my boss has started to notice.

I’ve started asking around, and one of the most common answers I’ve heard is that it all comes down to spatial design – as in, how an individual workspace is put together, as well as the flow of the office as a whole. This kind of makes sense to me. I work in a cubicle, which is arranged such that my colleagues can’t really see what I’m up to, so there’s not much to stop me from going on mindless scrolling rampages, at least in the moment.

I’m not sure there’s much I can do regarding my firm’s choices in office interior design. Melbourne is a leader in the global commercial design landscape, though, as far as I can tell from a quick online search. Maybe that’s some ammunition I can use to argue my case – in other words, we’re letting the team down.

Here I go again – searching and blogging and polling strangers about their workplace habits, when I could (and should) be getting on with that report that’s due in two hours. I’ve only got myself to blame, really; I can’t very well point the finger at my environment. I mean, it’s not like it’s terrible. It’s undeniably a high end office fitout. Melbourne has plenty of worse-off offices hidden amongst its up-to-date facade, no doubt.

Still, it’s worth thinking about, especially for business owners. At the end of the day, I’ll lose out if I get the sack over my chronic time-wasting, but so will the company. There are things that could be done to facilitate better workplace habits, and they could be a simple as giving some thought to the layout of the space.

Stuff all these ‘walls’. We’re setting up a new society…in the BUSH.

I grew up in a tent, in a community of tent folks, so I’m really not into this sort of working environment. I know I’m the boss now and I should be buckling down and doing what’s best for the office, which is exactly why I’d like to move everyone outside into the great outdoors. And I know what everyone would say to that: the winter winds would be chilly, and the rain might get into the keyboards, and there would be fewer power-points to connect your appliances. I’ve thought of all of this. In fact, I got the main idea from an office fitout company that designs offices in Melbourne. Making your office more homely and open-plan is currently all the rage. Well, I’d be making things as open-plan as it gets, because there wouldn’t be any walls at ALL. No cubicle walls, no nothing. Of course, I have an elegant solution to the power problem: really long extension leads. Or maybe portable generators that partially run off solar power; I’m still nutting that one out. I’m still getting used to the idea that people need to charge their devices and plug their computers into the walls.

That would only be the first step in my ultimate offices design plans. We’d have stylish flaps placed around the office in the winter, so as to keep out the cold winds and the rain. All the chairs would be replaced, so that people either had standing desks (the desks would be tree stumps) or they nestled with their computers in the crook of a tree. I know people create designer offices close to Melbourne, but no one is doing it like this. I’ll probably be beating off the folks who want to leech off my success and move all their staff outside. But I’ll always be the one who started the bush office.

-Kallum

I’ve done my own homework, without any help, from a very young age. In fact, I don’t really remember EVER getting help with my home work from any of my family members. All my brothers just laughed at me when I asked them, Ma told me to ask Pa, and Pa ended up getting so angry at my grade 3 maths homework that I had to take the sheet away from him before he ripped it up. Pa has never been good at maths, but he doesn’t like to be presented with proof of that fact.

So I’m just used to doing it all by myself. Now that I’m taking a design class- and don’t tell any of my family that I picked that subject- I just take it for granted that I’m not only never going to seek help, I shouldn’t even bring the subject up at the dinner-table at all. Besides…this is easy. I have to design my own office, I’m thinking I need to create the most spacious office designs Melbourne businesses have ever seen. I’ve sent a few letter to local office designers to get their help.  I need someone who specialises in taking old, boring offices and making them fresh and new.

I like design, but I don’t have all that much to go on. I’ve never been to an office, and Ma and Pa say that people who work in them are just a bunch of corporate scum. Yeah, they’re not very charitable towards a lot of professions…if it doesn’t involve architecture, then they don’t want to know about it. Still, I’ve see them on TV, and I know quite a bit about what makes an ergonomic design. There’s also the psychological aspect to think about; what will make people more productive and happier? Can’t come up with an office design that has no natural lighting, or one that separates people who need to be in communication. Will it be open plan, or does that depend on the business? A coloured feature wall, or some interesting wallpaper?

Office fitouts are much more than just new carpet and desks. I could do this, you know…find a company in Melbourne for office designs and offer my services. And then I’d be ejected from the Jacoby clan. I’m weighing my options.

-Forrest Jacoby Jr. Jr.