Architectural Work Place Designs and Work Behaviors

Case reports 1
Architectural work place designs and work behaviors
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Student affiliation
Supervisor
8th, March 2018

Case reports 2
Introduction
In recent years the area of architectural design and use of technology is influencing work designs
and employee behaviors. Buildings are constructed in a way that it pushes employees to work
towards new limits. Example of such buildings is that of Apple Park, a campus that houses
12000 staff with a vast circular building surrounded with a park, and Nvidia a two storey
building. Apple Park is located in Cupertino with a type of Silicon Valley’s campuses which
makes it to be an emblem of the latest US technology industry craze. Nvidia a chipmaker on the
other hand has a two storey office with spaces in its heart that do not allow ‘collisions and
interactions’ of the users (Ording & Louch 2017, p.45). Nvidia design represents a Utopia of a
wide flat across campuses instead of making users split across vertical floors. Every employee in
Apple and Nvidia have own work stations (‘hot desks’) which allows them to gather and huddle
when working for a project. The use of ‘hot desks’ is more cost effective and more flexible.
Motivation behind use of ‘utopia flat design campuses and ‘hot desks’ is on revenue generation
originating from employees working collaboratively’ (Myerson, Bichard 2016, p.24).
Several studies findings have justified the use of ‘hot desks’ as appropriate for working stations.
A research conducted by Leesman a workplace research group established that 70% of
employees in activity-based workplaces like to huddle in a single desk. That contrasts with the
aim of using activity-based work place which was designed for them to move from a zone to
another during a working day. Gensler, the architectural firm for Nvidia new building justified in
their finding that ‘employees require work stations with less privacy, more collaborations and
limited space for working.’ That is provided by the use of ‘hot desks’ which is more relevant to
what the employee’s need. The drawback of using ‘hot desks’ is that it may not be suitable for
certain professional works requiring individual efforts instead of collaborations (Ording & Louch
2017, p.45). Other jobs require individuals to focus towards work and any migration or open
spaces would cause distractions. Changes in technology continue to erode work patterns and it is
then appropriate if only they do not re-engineer the behavior of the users.

Case reports 3
Research questions
1. How does architectural technology craze contribute to redesign of work spaces?
2. What are the factors contributing to the recent architectural technology craze in work spaces?
3. Which office space design configuration is most appropriate for employee working behaviors?
4. What are the challenges facing architectural technology in redesigning work spaces?
Literature review
Literature review of the article is based on the research questions and will be derived from
empirical facts from secondary sources of data.
Architectural technologies craze and redesign of work spaces
There is emerging craze in architectural technologies for work related spaces. Designers and
architects are now tasked to redesign work spaces that innovative. They are focused on achieving
goals for creating new working spaces that revolve building of communities, encourage work
encounters, and could enhance collaborations. The building sector in US and across the world is
developing in a rapid speed there is need to adhere to strict building and construction codes.
Differential building of co-working spaces as emerged as one of the fast growing areas in the
building sector. Architectures and designers are competing to provide the best office structures
(Myerson, Bichard 2016, p.24)
Innovation spaces in architectural designs are signs of demographic, economic and cultural
forces influencing office structures developments. The dynamic changes in innovation are
transforming office structures into flexible locales, open enough to host different professionals
and disciplines. Changes in demographics in the work place are the leading cause of changes in
office structures designs. ‘Designers are tasked with innovative ways to ensure different workers
needs are met for the benefit of the institution’ (Chappell & Dunn 2015, p.45).
Factors contributing to the recent architectural technology craze in work spaces
The architectural work spaces have changed over the last 10 years due to different reasons. The
first reason comes from convergent sharing of ideas and opinions from different sectorial areas.