Improve Profitability, Health and Quality of Life.

• Author: Williams, James M.
• Position: UB Voices

Improve your profitability, health, and quality of life by improving your environment. This is true for both your work life and your personal life. There are new trends in office design and construction that not only benefit the owner, but also benefit the employee, community and the global environment as well.

Business leaders are painfully aware of the need to attract and retain quality employees, now more than ever given the shortage of qualified candidates in many business sectors. One way to attract and retain employees is to provide a work environment that is in harmony with the employee's values, conveys the character and personality of the company (the company's "brand,") and provides the employee with a quality experience.

The employees of today want more than just a paycheck. They want, and value; collaboration and relationships, technology and connectivity, health and wellness, productivity and efficiencies, structure and flexibility, learning and inspiration, purpose and experience, and to belong to an organization with purpose while being celebrated as an individual. All of this can be accomplished by design. Architecture does matter.

The above values can be facilitated through the application of open, well organized floor plans or work spaces which are based upon the business plan of the company. The work spaces of today do not look like the traditional work spaces we are accustomed to. There is now more transparency, openness, natural light and of course technology. With the implementation of technology, workers may be more productive sitting in an enclave, than they can sitting in a formal conference room. They can more easily collaborate in a "cafe-like" company lounge area than they can in a traditional office or break room.

The new trends in office design and construction include; energy conservation, an increase of natural light and views, energy efficient light fixtures and controls, energy efficient mechanical systems, improved building envelopes, open floor plans, employee amenities, durability, sustainability, resilience, connectivity, technology, and flexibility. These trends are in response to the new values previously described.

Another new trend is the use of tilt-up construction. Tilt-up construction has migrated from warehouse buildings to large retail centers, schools, religious buildings, multi-family and now, multistory, class "A" office buildings. This new trend has gone almost unnoticed due to the speed of...