WorkplaceTypologies:
Cellular, Open Plan and Activity Based Workplace Arrangements
Research by the Office of the Government Architect for the Department of Finance - BMW
Business Development and Government Office Accommodation.
One Shelley Street, Macquarie Group, Clive Wilkinson Architects, Sydney
Workplace Typologies:
Cellular, Open Plan and Activity Based Workplace Arrangements
Introduction
It is recognised that the quality of the workplace environment plays a significant role on business efficiency and
effectiveness.1 A well designed workplace will better support day to day operations and aid the process of change
and improvement. 2 People who work in well designed and well located workspaces feel more valued as
employees and, as result, are more productive and less likely to look for elsewhere for professional opportunities.3
Key elements of well-designed office workplaces include:
 efficient, clear space for maximum flexibility of layout
 place making – defined places for entry, reception, work, breaks, drinks and
catering, services
 accessible to all and, where relevant, welcoming to the public and customers
 a workplace, location and building representing organisational values
 maximum access to views and outlook
 good environmental qualities: lighting, heat, air with individual control of the
environment where possible
 design for comfort and ergonomics, particularly in furniture and lighting
 use of colour, texture, light and architectural features to enliven the work
environment
 design for security and safety
 design for energy efficiency and future-proofing.
[Source: CABE: Creating Excellent Buildings]4
New and alternate approaches to working are continually emerging, which in turn result in different workplace
arrangements. This paper will look at three workplace typologies; cellular, open plan and activity based
workplaces.
Successful workplaces will likely incorporate characteristics of all three types, designed in a way to best suit the
needs of individual business or agency. The balance of each type of arrangement will be determined by the
specifics of the brief for the project, and the range and nature of the activities which need to be accommodated in a
particular location.
Each organisation must make decisions about the nature of their workplace within the context of their own
objectives and priorities, and recognise the affinities between working patterns and building types.5 Additionally
organisations should anticipate change and plan for flexibility, to enable change to occur with greater
effectiveness.6
1
T Allen, A Bell, R Graham, B Hardy & F Swaffer, Working without Walls, Office of Government Commerce, London, 2004
2
T Allen, A Bell, R Graham, B Hardy & F Swaffer, Working without Walls, Office of Government Commerce, London, 2004
3
CABE and Llewelyn Davies Yeang, Better Places to Work, Telford Publishing, London, 2005
4
CABE, Creating Excellent Buildings; A guide for Clients 2003
5
CABE and the British Council for Offices, The Impact of Office Design on Business Performance, Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment,
2005
6
CABE and the British Council for Offices, The Impact of Office Design on Business Performance, Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment,
2005
Research by the Office of the Government Architect for the Department of Finance Cellular Workplace
A cellular workplace is one that consists predominantly of enclosed private offices. Typically the offices are
arranged along a central corridor and sized according to the status or position of the intended occupant.8 Staff
generally also have access to shared meeting rooms to conduct their work. Allocation of office space usually
reflects a hierarchy of roles within an organisation rather than providing a work environment that supports optimal
working practices.9
8
T Allen, A Bell, R Graham, B Hardy & F Swaffer, Working without Walls, Office of Government Commerce, London, 2004
9
T Allen, A Bell, R Graham, B Hardy & F Swaffer, Working without Walls, Office of Government Commerce, London, 2004 Research by the Office of the Government Architect for the Department of Finance An example of an enclosed office floor plan: The Pomerantz Centre, The University of Iowa, 2005
Advantages:
 Increased privacy;
 Reduced noise and interruptions;
 Facilitates completion of sensitive and independent work;
 Increased sense of ownership, status and personal identity with workspace.
Disadvantages:
 Limited communication with other staff, members of different teams and managers10;
 Communication is more likely to be scheduled11;
 Reduced opportunities for tacit learning and mentoring12;
 Potential for more experienced employee’s skills to stagnate without interaction with other staff with new
and different skills 13;
 Less interaction and involvement with the workplace in general;
 Reduced the sense of value for staff not allocated private offices.
10
T Allen, A Bell, R Graham, B Hardy & F Swaffer, Working without Walls, Office of Government Commerce, London, 2004
11
F Becker, Offices that Work; Balancing Communication Flexibility and Cost, Cornell University, 2001
12
the practice of locating more experienced staff in enclosed private offices can reduce learning and development opportunities
for less experienced staff 13
M O’Neill, Open Plan and Enclosed Private Offices; Research, Review and Recommendations, Knoll Workplace Research, 2008
Research by the Office of the Government Architect for the Department of Finance Open Plan Workplace
An Open Plan workplace can take many different forms, though the term generally refers to an office environment
where multiple individual workstations share a single space without the use of dividing walls.14
An Open Plan office can consist of:
 High-panelled cubicles with individual desks (where one cannot see over the panel when seated);
 Low-panelled cubicles with individual desks (where one can see over the panel when seated);
 A cluster or “pod” of low-panelled workstations separated from another pod by higher panels;
 A shared enclosed office (2-12 people in an enclosed space); or,
 A team-oriented ‘bullpen’, with a small group of desks in a completely open area15.
An Open Plan arrangement can potentially provide staff with alternate work settings to find the most appropriate
environment to match the tasks they are performing (as is the intent of Activity Based Workplaces – see below).
This might involve moving to quieter or enclosed space for concentrated and focused work or conversely moving to
more informal shared spaces to aid interaction and collaboration.16
14
15
16
T Allen, A Bell, R Graham, B Hardy & F Swaffer, Working without Walls, Office of Government Commerce, London, 2004
F Becker, Offices that Work; Balancing Communication Flexibility and Cost, Cornell University, 2001
T Allen, A Bell, R Graham, B Hardy & F Swaffer, Working without Walls, Office of Government Commerce, London, 2004
Research by the Office of the Government Architect for the Department of Finance Images of Open Plan office floors and associated alternate areas for meetings and other interactions.
Advantages:
 More conducive to overall work effectiveness, when communication and interaction are critical elements
of the work process.17
 Supports team-oriented work and tasks.
 Removes physical barriers between managers and other staff, improving clarity of direction, task speed
and quality. 18
 Potential to improve density of workstation to floor space thus reducing costs per employee.19
 Enables flexible use of space through greater opportunities for adaptation and dealing with ‘churn’.20
 Improves visual access which allows behavioural cues to resolve or avoid conflict by understanding the
subtleties of nonverbal behaviour.21
 Better facilitates ‘tacit learning’ - more opportunities for observing and learning from those with more
experience and different skills.22
 Enables a person to see actual work occurring in other business units or departments, facilitating a greater
transfer of information both within and across teams.23
 Reduces the likelihood that someone is left out of an interaction in which he or she should be a part.24
 Interactions of managers and their teams can be shorter in more open spaces.25
 Increases opportunities for good natural light levels and air quality in the work space.
17
C Hickey, Open Plan; Realising the Benefits, Presentation to Building Management Works ‘Open Plan Workshop’ 2010
18
C Hickey, Open Plan; Realising the Benefits, Presentation to Building Management Works ‘Open Plan Workshop’ 2010
19
F Becker, Offices that Work; Balancing Communication Flexibility and Cost, Cornell University, 2001
Additional shared spaces and floor space required.
20
F Becker, Offices that Work; Balancing Communication Flexibility and Cost, Cornell University, 2001
21
F Becker, Offices that Work; Balancing Communication Flexibility and Cost, Cornell University, 2001
22
F Becker, Offices that Work; Balancing Communication Flexibility and Cost, Cornell University, 2001; ‘Tacit learning occurs in a serendipitous, unplanned
way, as a by-product of our routine, daily activities. It is learning that depends on being able to see and hear and observe how others handle different situations.
This same form of tacit learning occurs in, and is critical to the success of organizations.’
23
F Becker, Offices that Work; Balancing Communication Flexibility and Cost, Cornell University, 2001
24
F Becker, Offices that Work; Balancing Communication Flexibility and Cost, Cornell University, 2001
25
F Becker, Offices that Work; Balancing Communication Flexibility and Cost, Cornell University, 2001
Research by the Office of the Government Architect for the Department of Finance An example of an Open Plan office floor plan: The National Australia Bank, Bligh Voller Nield, Docklands, Melbourne
Disadvantages:
 (Depending on the type of open plan environment...) loss of privacy, loss of identity, low work
productivity, various health issues, overstimulation and low job satisfaction when working in an open plan
work environment.26
 Some studies have shown reduced productivity27, particularly due to acoustic impacts.
 General expectations and attitudes of staff favour closed offices.28
 Greater difficulty in controlling unwanted distractions and interruptions.
 Potential adverse impacts on staff well-being.29
 Lack of quiet spaces or zones designed primarily for individual work can affect concentration and
encourage staff to seek working from home, or other locations away from the office.30
 Can lead to a perceived loss of status and benefits, when employees shift from an enclosed office to open
plan.31
26
V Oommen, M Knowles, & I Zhao, Should health service managers embrace open plan work environments? A review. Asia Pacific Journal of Health
Management, 2008
27
Open plan office workers suffer more from colds, high blood pressure and stress, The Telegraph, 13th Jan 2009 28
B F Becker, Offices that Work; Balancing Communication Flexibility and Cost, Cornell University, 2001
29
Dyckhoff, Tom, The Secret Life of Buildings, 2011, Channel 4, UK - One study showed that open plan office lead to a 32% drop in workers well-being, and
reduced productivity by 15%.
30
31
T Allen, A Bell, R Graham, B Hardy & F Swaffer, Working without Walls, Office of Government Commerce, London, 2004
M O’Neill, Open Plan and Enclosed Private Offices; Research, Review and Recommendations, Knoll Workplace Research, 2008 Research by the Office of the Government Architect for the Department of Finance Activity Based Workplace
Activity-based workplaces (AbW) provide a more flexible arrangement of the open plan workspace where
employees are free to choose the area of the work place that best suits the activities or tasks they need to perform
on a given day. This can often mean that employees do not have an individual desk or workstation of their own.
This approach requires careful investigation of the way people work so that office environments can be carefully
designed around their needs.
The activity-based workplace removes traditional hierarchies.
For this approach to be successful, employees must know what work they’re to be involved in on a particular day
and use the area best suited to that task. Additionally employees can not be expected to work in their traditional
manner.32 The Activity-based Workplace emerged out of the research of Erik Veldoen, captured in his 1994 text
‘The Demise of the Office’33.
ANZ Building, Hassell Studio, Melbourne
32
Jacqui Preshaw, Woodhead Perth Principle, Space Shortage drives activity-based design, WA Business Newspaper, July 5 2012.
33
Crowe-Hardy, Mitchell, Space shortage drives activity-based design, WA Business Newspaper, July 5 2012. Research by the Office of the Government Architect for the Department of Finance Microsoft Building, Sevil Peach in Schiphol, The Netherlands
Advantages:
By providing a range of different settings and technologies to support various tasks, activities and modes of work
AbW arrangements have the potential to:






Increase productivity34
Increase autonomy and entrepreneurship within an organisation35
Strengthen corporate image and workplace culture36
Increase collaboration, communication and knowledge sharing within and between teams37
Increase employee enjoyment, well being and satisfaction38
Increase opportunities for team-oriented work;
34
R Van Koetsveld & L Kamperman, How flexible workplace strategies can be made successful at the operational level, Corporate Real Estate Journal, Volume
1, Number 4 2011
35
R Van Koetsveld & L Kamperman, How flexible workplace strategies can be made successful at the operational level, Corporate Real Estate Journal, Volume
1, Number 4 2011
36
R Van Koetsveld & L Kamperman, How flexible workplace strategies can be made successful at the operational level, Corporate Real Estate Journal, Volume
1, Number 4 2011
37
R Van Koetsveld & L Kamperman, How flexible workplace strategies can be made successful at the operational level, Corporate Real Estate Journal, Volume
1, Number 4 2011
38
R Van Koetsveld & L Kamperman, How flexible workplace strategies can be made successful at the operational level, Corporate Real Estate Journal, Volume
1, Number 4 2011
Research by the Office of the Government Architect for the Department of Finance 

Support specific tasks through environments that are appropriate to needs.39
Improve the spatial economy of the workplace with more efficient use of facilities, floor and desk spaces.
40
Disadvantages:
 Unpredictability of available space
 ABW will not be appropriate to all workplaces or types of services delivery.41
39
R Van Koetsveld & L Kamperman, How flexible workplace strategies can be made successful at the operational level, Corporate Real Estate Journal, Volume
1, Number 4 2011
40
Crowe-Hardy, Mitchell, ‘Space shortage drives activity-based design’, WA Business Newspaper, July 5 2012. Additional shared spaces and floor space
required.
41
Crowe-Hardy, Mitchell, ‘Space shortage drives activity-based design’, WA Business Newspaper, July 5 2012.eg. In the legal industry where the ratio is 3050% of floor space is used for individual offices. This industry requires privacy and security and an open plan, multi function office would create a sense of
nervousness in this context. Research by the Office of the Government Architect for the Department of Finance Other Workplace Initiatives: Hot Desking
Hot desking is the practice whereby individual desks are shared by two or more people. It is used when staff are
generally not in the office at the same time and would not have a conflicting need for the same space at the same
time, for example in a job sharing arrangement. 42 Hot desking can be used as a strategy in each of the workplaces
identified above however, as a more recent workplace practice to emerge it is most often associated with ABW.
Staff will need to receive education prior to implementation in relation to how to achieve the best results from hot
desking.43
An office using hot desking.
Advantages:


Improves spatial efficiency due to more effective space utilisation per person.44
Removes the necessity of calculating space requirements in relation to constantly fluctuating staff
numbers.45
Disadvantages:




Careful planning is necessary to coordinate the demand of the hot desk. The concept will fail if the staff
sharing the workspace need it at the same time.46
Employees are unable to personalise their workspace, and workplace culture will need to enforce
procedures maintaining clear desks.
Full-time staff may use the hot desk as an overflow work area if it is left vacant.
Additional storage space will be required by the staff sharing the hot desk (e.g. mobile drawer units for
workstations).
42
http://www.gamc.nsw.gov.au/workplace-guidelines/3_wpdirections/wpdirections_3_03_05.htm
43
http://www.gamc.nsw.gov.au/workplace-guidelines/3_wpdirections/wpdirections_3_03_05.htm
44
http://www.gamc.nsw.gov.au/workplace-guidelines/3_wpdirections/wpdirections_3_03_05.htm
45
http://www.gamc.nsw.gov.au/workplace-guidelines/3_wpdirections/wpdirections_3_03_05.htm
46
http://www.gamc.nsw.gov.au/workplace-guidelines/3_wpdirections/wpdirections_3_03_05.htm Research by the Office of the Government Architect for the Department of Finance