Hello,

There seems to be a possible difference between normal office
environments and those designed to suite IT Developers specifically.

I'm interested in brief information about a suitable layout of such an
office, keeping in mind that there are other sorts of people in that
office, such as support staff, admin and sales.

Issues such as excessive interaction, noise levels and distractions as
well as the negativity of feeling like being in a coffin.  What is
considered as a good balance?

Some of the staff I have spoken with prefer a totally open cubical
where they see and hear everything, having been in one which they had
closed cubicals. I disagree with that and think it could possibly be a
reaction and that being in an open environment with all those visual
and noise distractions around would cause great discomfort and reduced
levels of focusing.

Examples of office layout designs in graphical format as well as
images of those interior designs would be very helpful.

This posting may have been better placed under an architecture related
category, though I felt the goal was of business productivity and
staff satisfaction.

/Lizardnation

Hi once more!

The issues about office designs have never been fierier especially
with the advent of IT companies. With new technology, offices now like
stores can be physical and also virtual with telecommuting becoming
more an option and accepted by companies.

According to this article office designs whether for technology based
companies or the following influences other industries:

a. “Office design should reflect the needs of the work and employees,
as well as the structure of corporate philosophy.”
b. The focus is on a teamwork-oriented environment.
c. It must attract employees thereby influencing retention.

This article also has office designs from Teledesic and other
companies.

Complexity of New Office Designs: 
Thinking Through Your Future Workplace 
by Mary Colette Wallace, Associate AIA, Wallace Research Group
http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/nov00/wallace.htm 

Sample office designs from Future at Work
http://www.future-at-work.org/exhibit/takelook.html
http://www.future-at-work.org/exhibit/tal_floorplan02.html 

In the article “IT Builds its Dream House” by David Pearson the
physical characteristics must:

a. Support IT staff
b. Must be able to efficiently maintain hardware infrastructure
c. Flexible design must support for changing needs of static spaces.

There is a design for the office buildings but the rollover script
does not work, at least on my browser.
http://www.cio.com/archive/050199_build.html  

The following are descriptions of different office design types:

CUBE Stakes
http://www.cio.com/archive/enterprise/041599_wksp_content.html 

I do hope that this would be of help to you. Please ask for a
clarification if you require additional information. Thanks again.

Regards,
Easterangel-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by easterangel-ga on 12 Jun 2002 05:24 PDT

Additional articles I have found to supplementmy answer:

Interview with Hall Davidson
http://www.cio.com/archive/090100_interview.html

Office Fantasies Of The Future by Nicholas Stein 
http://www.fortune.com/indexw.jhtml?channel=artcol.jhtml&doc_id=00001846

The New Workplace
http://www.businessweek.com/1996/18/b34731.htm

Whatever Space Works for You by Laurein Goldstein
http://www.fortune.com/indexw.jhtml?channel=artcol.jhtml&doc_id=00000917

Workplace Strategies for Dynamic Organizations
http://iwsp.human.cornell.edu/pubs/excerpts/odws_excerpt.HTML
http://iwsp.human.cornell.edu/pubs/excerpts/odws_excerpt2.HTML
http://iwsp.human.cornell.edu/pubs/excerpts/odws_excerpt3.HTML

Additional office layout
http://www.cio.com/archive/050199_build_contenthuman.html

As always, you bring in the results.

Hi Lizardnation,

let me add some things to Easterangel's answer.

You can combine open and closed spaces, specifically suited for teams
that need to work together. That is, seperate rooms, round tables in
each, screens facing the outer circle, additional hardware alongside
the walls. Just remember it's bad if a screen faces an open door --
you don't have to go back to Feng-Shui books to figure out that one.
(Yes, the table closest to the door is bad off for the other reason of
being the "default space" where anybody entering the room puts work &
papers of unknown destiny.)

So, there's reasonable arguments in favor of balanced mixtures as
opposed to either-or approaches. I don't want to see all members of
the staff all day, but I need to see some co-workers practically
constanly (for one thing, to be able to quickly communicate problems
and solutions). I wouldn't want to work in a closed room. And on some
occasions, the door needs to be closed.

It's good to have a plan, but especially in the first weeks, allow for
flexible rearrangements -- not only of chairs and tables, but off
staff combinations as well.

Tom DeMarco goes into great detail on this subject in his book
Peopleware - Productive Projects and Teams.  A "must" read!

Hello J_Philipp,

Thanks for the comments, yes those were details that would surely
impact the environment.  Having segmented areas of specific tailored
needs is a great idea.

/Lizardnation

Hello Jrl,

I'll checkout the book and find out more about it.  Thanks! :-)

/Lizardnation