Flexible Workspaces

What are Flexible Workspaces?

Flexible workspaces are settings that support a variety of business arrangements tailored to the needs of the user.[1] Changes in technology, management approaches, and business models drive a need for spaces that can adapt quickly to change. [2] Disassembly, deconstruction, and demolition are essential considerations for managing resources and the waste stream when creating new building environments (see Construction and Demolition Waste Reduction). New construction should emphasize reusable parts and easy access to infrastructure, plumbing, and wiring as well as planning for recycling or reuse of leftover materials.[3] In addition to a focus on flexible workspaces in a traditional office environment, there is also an increasing number of people using flexible work locations such as co-working spaces or fully equipped shared spaces (see Alternative Transportation and Transit Oriented Design).

How to Implement Flexible Workspaces

Flexible workspaces should provide flexible infrastructure, adjustable workstations and support mobility within the office and outside of the office. Re-configurable furniture in meeting spaces as well as providing options for subdividing larger spaces help contribute to a more flexible work environment.[4]

To implement flexible workspaces, it is essential to:

• Engage in an integrated design process (see Integrated Design Process).
• Provide flexibility for delivering power, voice, data, and internet.
• Provide distributed, vertical cores, satellite closets, and generous horizontal plenum spaces with mobile, user-based services to accommodate changing technology.
• Provide systems that are controllable and adjustable by the users without depending on outside contractors (see Individual Comfort Controls).
• Incorporate sustainable design principles, which can help achieve flexible spaces.[5]
• Use durable materials that are worth recovering for reuse or recycling (see Durable and Adaptable Materials).
• Plan for the movement and safety of occupants to allow for building adaptation.[6]

Table 1. Drivers, Solutions, and Issues for the Changing Workplace (Adapted from Whole Building Design Guide – The Changing Nature of Organizations, Work, and Workplace) [7]

Table 1. Drivers, Solutions, and Issues for the Changing Workplace (Adapted from Whole Building Design Guide – The Changing Nature of Organizations, Work, and Workplace) [7]

Benefits

• Reduces the need to alter infrastructure
• Enables low-cost and less complicated reconfiguration
• Promotes productivity and efficiency and occupant satisfaction
• Reduces real estate costs (by de-linking physical space consumption from occupant headcount)
• Improves organizational flexibility and agility to respond to current and future workforce demands
• Increases options for disassembly and deconstruction[8]

Costs

Companies need to plan for flexibility and change to keep up with changing business models and technology. The GSA Sustainable Facilities Tool includes a case study for the renovation of the PBS Chicago Regional Office. Through incorporating flexible design strategies, the renovation reduced costs of reconfiguration of workstations from $900 per workstation and $1650 per office to $0. Plug and play data and telecom enabled GSA staff to make changes without the help of outside technicians, saving approximately $125 per change. Designing flexible workspaces can minimize costs associated with reconfigurations as technology and office environments evolve. [9]

Resiliency

Flexibility and adaptability are elements that contribute to a resilient workplace. As described by Judith Heerwagen and Michael Bloom in the Resilient Workplace, workplaces need to promote the capacity of humans to be creative and adapt in the face of disruption and change.[10]

[1] Whole Building Design. http://www.wbdg.org/design/design_change.php (accessed January 6, 2019).

[2] Whole Building Design Guide. Office Building. https://www.wbdg.org/building-types/office-building  (accessed January 6, 2019).

[3] US EPA. Sustainable Materials Management. https://www.epa.gov/smm/best-practices-reducing-reusing-and-recycling-construction-and-demolition-materials#design (accessed January 20, 2019).

[4] GSA Sustainable Facilities Tool. Flexible Workplace Design.  (accessed January 20, 2019).

[5] Whole Building Design Guide. Design for the Changing Workplace. (accessed January 20, 2019 ).

[6] US EPA. Sustainable Materials Management. https://www.epa.gov/smm/best-practices-reducing-reusing-and-recycling-construction-and-demolition-materials#design (accessed January 20, 2019).

[7] Adapted from Whole Building Design Guide. http://www.wbdg.org/resources/chngorgwork.php (accessed January 20, 2019).

[8] GSA Sustainable Facilities Tool. Flexible Workplace Design. https://sftool.gov/learn/about/243/flexible-workplace-design (accessed January 20, 2019).

[9] GSA Sustainable Facilities Tool. (accessed January 20, 2019).

[10] Heerwagen, Judith and Michael F. Bloom. The Resilient Workplace. http://workandplace.com/the-resilient-workplace/ (accessed January 20, 2019).