New Work Order

The Nokia Siemens Networks office in Dubai has embraced modern working techniques.
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With office design trends changing rapidly as our needs evolve, how do the experts picture the office of the future? “In 50 years time, the physical office will primarily be used as a collaboration hub,” predicted Griño.

“We will not be tied to our desks as, using touch-sensitive and holographic screens projected from wearable computing devices, we will be able to work anywhere. This is mobile working in its true form. I see offices in the future designed like a modern hotel lobby.”

Griño also predicts that office spaces will evolve to become far more ‘green’ in the future, providing a healthier environment tailored to suit their inhabitants.

“Intelligent offices will become the norm. Offices will be equipped to adjust to personal needs, including temperature, light, air, smell and touch, with a central device managing what is optimal for the health, safety and wellbeing of employees,” he said.

Mohammed Abdul Muktadeer, sales manager at Officeland, has a similar vision – that the office of the future will be a place where employee wellbeing
is top of the agenda.

“The future workplace will be a place to be appreciated. It will be designed in such a way that it is appealing and tempting. After all, a happy employee will always be a productive member of the team, generating more revenue and success for the organisation,” he said.

For Gautam Bhatia, senior interior designer at Marlin Furniture, mobile working will be central to the office of the future. “The office of the future will be in our pocket. Ten years into the future we will all be sending correspondence and progress reports through our mobiles. There will be no need for office space, except in manufacturing industries. If this happens then I will be doing my work either in my car or at home.”

Peters from Total Office agrees that technology will drive change. “Technology has been the driving force for change in every workspace. Offices may end up being virtual rooms where business executives holographically log in from their homes or a place of their choice. It may not be physically possible to be everywhere at once, but it will be technologically possible! Offices may end up being virtual spaces in the online community where visual design can be as infinite as the imagination.”

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The Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) office in Dubai Internet City is a highly innovative workspace designed to support a new way of working that focuses on networking, mobility and team interaction.

The new design came out of an extensive workplace investigation into the work styles of company employees.

Employees were classified into three categories, mobile, campus mobile and desk-based, and were allocated space according to function.

Cathy Ingram, senior design manager at Bluehaus, was responsible for the project. “Through research, NSN discovered that the emerging way of working is varied and not as rigid as in the past. People are now working when and where needed, performance is measured based on results, mentoring and coaching are encouraged, teams can be virtual and individuals are highly mobile. Previously, space was designed based on hierarchy and status, but in the modern office, space is designed based on functions and tasks.”

“NSN discovered that, on average, workstations were occupied 47% of the time, with people spending one third of their day in meetings. In an office designed on hierarchy, 10% of the staff ‘own’ 20% of office space. A CEO, for example, may be given a large office, a PA, private meeting room and lounge. What NSN found was that these people are actually the most ‘mobile’, spending significant time out of the office in meetings or travelling, and therefore floor space is not being used to its capacity,” Ingram explained.

“In the changing economic climate, office space is becoming premium. If you can save money by looking at how much space you really need, companies can really make a difference to their bottom line.”

In practice this means that desk sharing is implemented and every workstation is cleared at the end of the day so that it can be used by anyone the next day. With desk space reduced to a bare necessity, there is space for hot desks, phone rooms, meetings rooms, informal breakout spaces and lounges where staff are encouraged to meet and work collaboratively.