Spec Finish

Design www.thefis.org 27 sustainable credentials, enhanced building outcomes, reduced negative costs and as a gateway approach to valuing the role of nature. You will find case studies of completed projects where these principles and points have been considered by visiting: www.oliverheath.com/case-studies www.oliverheath.com Inspiring spaces – how we interact with our environment Jamesina asked if these phrases sound familiar. “Human-Centric Design”, “Office Design for Humans”, “People Before Space”. They all sound suitably inspiring, sensible and maybe even a little obvious, but what do they mean? For me, we can’t possibly answer that question without understanding what it means to be human. This may be yet another philosophical question but I think for the purpose of thinking about how we can create more future-focused, fit-for-human environments, we can look at some of the things that we as humans have in common and the things that make us unique from each other. Commonality Besides our 99.9% genetic similarity, there are two that I want to put the spotlight on. Firstly, our creative nature and secondly, our need to be social. Now some of you are probably screaming “I don’t have a creative bone in my body!”, but I want to tell you that I disagree. Creativity is typically defined as the ability to come up with new and useful ideas. Our brains do this by connecting three distinct brain networks, the one that allows us to daydream, the one that allows us to focus and the one that detects an external stimulus. We all have these networks and the strength of our connections between them can give us an indication of how creative we are. The great news is just like we can strengthen our physical muscles, we can strengthen this connection and as a result, increase our ability to create. Secondly, is that we are all social beings. Our brain’s reward centres are linked to positive interactions with others, a sense of belonging and feelings of love. These two common traits we have as humans are not only things that connect us, but they are in my view, our unique selling point (USP). We need to hone the things that make us special as humans. So, when it comes to developing environments that are “human” centred, organisations need to consider how they create conditions that enable more creativity and frictionless social interaction. For every company, it will look slightly different but remember, for us to be “creative” we need to daydream (where we activate something called the Default Mode Network), so an environment or a way of working that enables this is a great start. The other thing to note is that rows upon rows of open plan desking are not how humans have their best moments of social connection with each other. We are all of course different, a product of evolution, our genetics and our social upbringing. This gives every one of us a unique point of view in life and as a result, an individual way of being and individual preferences for interacting. Companies have clocked on to the power that can be generated when you bring together a collection of diverse-thinking humans, so here is the third human USP that I urge you to think about. To support the diversity of operating modes that we all have, we need to ensure we provide a diverse environment to enable every individual to choose how they want to work. In conclusion For me, “People Before Space” means throwing away what we have learnt before; fully committing to our people being our greatest asset, and defining a future environment that supports them fully living upto their ‘USPs’ or what I like to call, our ‘Human Superpowers’. www.mcm-uk.com/b-corp Creating the modern office Vidhi tells us that if we were discussing the topic “creating the modern office” five years ago, you might argue that creating the modern office meant creating a space that had the ability to be flexible, agile and suit business needs. A space that could accommodate the expansion and contraction of numbers depending on market conditions. Creating the modern office today, is still that to an extent but significantly more people led. As much as the pandemic was difficult and brought on some challenges, it also gave us a chance to re-evaluate and think, to understand ourselves as individuals and what makes us unique. The information and awareness available today on neurodiversity feel like a moment of enlightenment for the industry. It is hard to believe that we have been designing offices for so long not knowing much about this topic. As individuals, we are extremely diverse, if we have been able to accept and understand over many years that we are a multicultural world why is it such a struggle to understand that our brains are also different? The number of ways a human brain can be wired is infinite, therefore why shouldn’t we have infinite working opportunities or a landscape of opportunities that are tailorable to suit our needs? Creating a modern office We need to understand how to support a diverse group of people through a variety of work settings. We then need to understand what key features those work settings need to perform correctly. Zoning: It’s important to understand how you want people to transition through a space (See Figure 1). Understanding the activity and energy levels of each zone is key to positioning them correctly. Zone five, for example, is an area for high-energy activities to take place, such as a reception, a town hall and a breakout Creating human workspaces