Workspace for the rat race.

• Author: STEVENS, M. EASTLAKE
• Position: RNL Design workplace of the future

DESIGNERS UNVEIL OFFICE OF THE FUTURE

THE MOMENT YOU ENTER WORKPLACE 2010, YOU know this is no traditional office.

Bright blue neon tubing breaks through the ceiling. A fiber-optic track runs through a transparent yellow pipe overhead. Near the reception desk, you see a collection of colored plastic control pads, larger versions of the Nintendo controls your kids work furiously as they play a video game.

You'll learn, while taking a tour of this 15th floor "office" at 700 17th St. in downtown Denver, that the pads can be used to raise and lower window shades, turn on and off lights, call forth slide projectors, change room temperatures.

All via wireless remote, like changing channels on your TV

The space -- and that's what it's called -- is a startling blend of futuristic furniture, computer technology, wiring and walls that represents a $2 million experiment in workplace design. It's also what you might expect when a nationally known office-design firm, RNL Design, and a Denver-based office-furniture supplier, OfficeScapes/Scott Rice, get together to create the workplace of their dreams.

But it is not just their dreams. About 60 business partners have donated the latest products and processes to create the office of the future.

"The space is a laboratory to demonstrate the future of workplace design," says Amy Tabor, executive director of Workplace 2010 and an RNL employee.

"The role of architects and designers is changing. We were thinking about how we could demonstrate this, and decided we should become our own client and create this space. We found that Scott Rice was thinking about it as well."

Jon Rakes of OfficeScapes/Scott Rice and the site director for Workplace 2010, said office design issues are especially relevant in today's less hierarchical workplace, where managers are stepping away from corner offices and working with collaborative teams.

"The design process is not only about furniture, technology or management," says Rakes. "It's about all those elements and a number of other elements that have to be decided before the space is designed."

Since April, about 1,500 people have toured -- by appointment only -- the 6,700 square feet of space that is Workplace 2010. ColoradoBiz took a tour and offers this look into the future.

NO DOORS

The most glaring departure Workplace 2010 takes from the standard office work space is the absence of doors to create private rooms. In fact, only three of Workplace 2010's many rooms have doors...