4 ms·

I take your point but schools and colleges seem to manage the 'large number of medium sized rooms each with some daylight, corridor, escape route' problem. Clas

I take your point but schools and colleges seem to manage the 'large number of medium sized rooms each with some daylight, corridor, escape route' problem. Classrooms can be converted into 10 to 12 person offices relatively easily. There has been quite a lot of new building in schools and colleges in the UK, so I'll try to find costings. Mind you, the new college buildings at least in UK also have open plan offices for teaching and admin staff. Many of my colleagues do prep work in unoccupied classrooms or work at home or do prep at odd times when the staff room is quiet. This, of course, short circuits the interaction argument for open plan offices.

agilebyte 13y ago
Yeah, can't imagine how you are supposed to have a 1-on-1 private convo with a student in an open environment like that either. Perhaps there always needs to be a bunch of break out rooms for use too.
- rubinelli 13y ago
  Open floor spaces normally have a few meeting rooms. A very common anti-pattern is senior staff "temporarily" occupying these rooms and turning them into private offices, so the rest of the team is not only deprived of privacy, but also of adequate meeting space. But hey, stand-up meetings are awesome, right?
  - robin_reala 13y ago
    We just kick them out when it’s time to have a meeting :)
- keithpeter 13y ago
  Ooops I forgot to mention those. We call them conference rooms. You book them via the Intranet but you can't just have one to work in! The Library also has 'tutorial rooms' but those have glass walls so are less good for 'chats' of the telling off variety.
VladRussian2 13y ago
>Many of my colleagues do prep work in unoccupied classrooms or work at home or do prep at odd times when the staff room is quiet. This, of course, short circuits the interaction argument for open plan offices. yep, looking at the number of empty desks in our newly converted (with big pompousness touting increased collaboration and innovation) offices i see the same effect. Personally, i also decreased my office hours and when in the office i usually with headphones on enjoying 80ies metal
willyt 13y ago
You're right, research shows that about 10 people is the best number of people in a team and therefore if it was just a question of doing a good design you would design spaces around these units. But, as I explained in my other comment below, design is unfortunately driven by the market economics of land values much more than the needs of end users.

agilebyte 13y ago

Yeah, can't imagine how you are supposed to have a 1-on-1 private convo with a student in an open environment like that either. Perhaps there always needs to be a bunch of break out rooms for use too.

rubinelli 13y ago
Open floor spaces normally have a few meeting rooms. A very common anti-pattern is senior staff "temporarily" occupying these rooms and turning them into private offices, so the rest of the team is not only deprived of privacy, but also of adequate meeting space. But hey, stand-up meetings are awesome, right?
- robin_reala 13y ago
  We just kick them out when it’s time to have a meeting :)
keithpeter 13y ago
Ooops I forgot to mention those. We call them conference rooms. You book them via the Intranet but you can't just have one to work in! The Library also has 'tutorial rooms' but those have glass walls so are less good for 'chats' of the telling off variety.

VladRussian2 13y ago

>Many of my colleagues do prep work in unoccupied classrooms or work at home or do prep at odd times when the staff room is quiet. This, of course, short circuits the interaction argument for open plan offices. yep, looking at the number of empty desks in our newly converted (with big pompousness touting increased collaboration and innovation) offices i see the same effect. Personally, i also decreased my office hours and when in the office i usually with headphones on enjoying 80ies metal

willyt 13y ago

You're right, research shows that about 10 people is the best number of people in a team and therefore if it was just a question of doing a good design you would design spaces around these units. But, as I explained in my other comment below, design is unfortunately driven by the market economics of land values much more than the needs of end users.