Clerkenwell Cheat Sheet: Architecture and Design

Under two weeks to Clerkenwell Design Week (CDW). You will be going, I take it? It is always great fun with terrific places to visit.

?It is also always packed to the rafters with Workplace Experts -- designers, academics, fellow psychs, wellness advisors, consultants etc. -- some of whom will be not quite so expert as they might want us to believe. There will also be a generous sprinkling of folk pushing their wares and making all sorts of claims about how much they will improve lives and companies’ performances. These wares may or may not be as efficacious as they first appear.?

Let us have a bit of a squizz at a selection of these people and at a few of their ideas, so that when you wander between the various showrooms and hear the arguments presented, you can run the rule over the quality of the claims. Feel free to heap praise on the truth-tellers, and perhaps ask an awkward question or two of the rest, suggestions below. I wish you devilishly good fun.

?Today then, ah Design. We must explore the D of CDW, where would we be without it??

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The Fabulousness of Design

Designers are great at what they do. Anybody who has ever had any connection to a poor soul who went through the arduous slog and considerable intellectual endeavour of an architecture degree will know the talent and skill demanded of that profession. Similarly the, frequently underrated, workplace designers employed by furniture companies and their dealers, will turn out jaw dropping efforts.

However, just like a farmer stuck in the ram shed, there is an inevitable ‘but.’? Design tends to collect expertize to itself that it neither owns nor fully understands. We are going to explore the frequently misinterpreted psychological terms used by A&D, and, far more seriously the unintended psychological effects that inappropriate design can bring about.

Cans and cannots

It is impossible to design a great space. That shabby place that always seems to be full of pizza boxes, mismatched furniture and laughter? It may well be a far better workplace than the magnificent biophilic emporium that cost squillions around the corner. It is people that make a great space; the right design is a fundamental step along the way, but not the destination.

Thus it is that psychologically applied design is - at least over two decades of research and counting - considerably better in terms of results, than a design led solution. Without understanding the psychological impacts of its work, design is suboptimal and sometimes even harmful. Breathtaking design can have breathtaking consequences in all directions. It is, as ever, the science that has the answers. Let’s explore.

?The patter

No names or pack drill, here is a selection of claims made by a selection of the A&D firms you will meet during Clerkenwell Design Week. Questions you may like to ask anybody making these claims are listed; do extemporize. Please applaud good answers, just as you happily skewer bad ones.

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"We Design to Reflect Company Culture"

Look for phrases such as “The office design should reflect the company's culture and values. Incorporate branding elements and design choices that align with the organization's identity.”

Does the speaker understand what culture is? It is crucial to grasp that culture is (a) an entirely different construct to identity and further that (b) culture is a bottom-up process. Design will usually take its instruction from the top after a certain level of consultation. Thus design tends to reflect the Board’s aspiration of what it wishes the company culture to be. This risks squashing, rather than reflecting, the culture that is in place. Thus, and for example, a friendly, casual and irreverent culture can be damaged by a shift to a beautiful, high functioning space that does not ‘speak to’ its occupants. This to the detriment of both well-being and performance (let alone the corporate bank balance).

?Questions to ask: How do you make sure you reflect the culture? What is the difference between culture and identity?

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?Our Designs Promote Employee Wellbeing

“Good design” you will hear “can help promote employee wellbeing, which in turn boosts productivity. Factors like lighting, acoustics, textures, and colours all contribute to creating the right atmosphere.?Providing wellness rooms, ergonomic furniture, and comfortable collaboration areas are important.”

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Well, for sure, all of that can be true. There is scientific evidence to support the above statement (see references below). However there is also scientific evidence to the exact opposite, that what has been sold as good design is a psychological disaster. Something that in reality will depress the key variables mentioned.

?The evidence showing that minimalist workspaces are bad places to work is overwhelming. What is often called "high design" -- stark looking areas, replete with ergonomic furniture, adjustable chairs and meeting areas -- may look lovely but easily turn into deserts of misery.

There is no wellness in this…

?...and yet, the majority of workplace designs still follow similar templates.?

Meanwhile, texture, lighting, sound and colour do make noticeable differences, but these too can have the opposite effects to those intended. If any consultant tells you that blue helps you relax, red makes you productive or any other such notion, then you can be certain that they are talking boll..., er, rubbish

I can use your favourite shade, whate’er it be, and make it a factor of good or ill, in the workplace. The effect lies in application rather than in anything intrinsic. There is proper research into the psychology of colour, do check out the wonderful work of Professor Charles Spence at Oxford, but this is far too nuanced for the "yellow makes you happy, green makes you cry" nonsense peddled by the business rainbow squad.

That said, whatever adds interest to a minimalist area is a generally fine thing. It may be impossible to design a brilliant space, but you can certainly design a better one.

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Questions to ask:

How do you measure productivity? (see previous article)

How do you measure well-being? (Note that this answer should be entirely different to the one given above, as different methods of measurement are demanded. Have merriment if this is not the case).

How do you ensure “comfortable collaboration?”

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Design Enables Flexibility and Efficiency

Look out for phrases such as, "Designing for flexibility allows the space to adapt to future needs. Clever use of multi-purpose rooms, ergonomic furniture, and streamlined layout can maximize the potential of the workspace.?Ensure the office supports the company's workflows and work processes."

Ah flexibility. I am old enough to remember Nadia Comaneci . Otherwise ‘flexibility’ is a fickle word, living up to its name and meaning whatever you like. Indeed design is replete with the type of word salad you have just read in the paragraph, above. Feel free, during such moments, to plan your next beer as the designer preens feathers on the dais in front of you. Nothing of any use is to be found here.

?Design Encourages Collaboration

Collaborative spaces should be easily accessible yet positioned to minimize disturbance. Provide a range of environments for different purposes - collaboration, focus work, relaxation.?Use design elements like artwork and graphics to boost productivity and innovation.

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Designers really can be true magicians when it comes to exploiting space. Squeezing in zones of activity, collaborative or otherwise, and making the most of light, shade and angles to turn even the most unpromising areas into something special.? However, beware of designers that tend towards pedagogically led solution, or belief in design’s theocracy. Designers from this church will listen but will know best, and will expect goodly amounts of wonder and awe directed at the burning bush they produce. Invariably, the offered solution will be more like Terry Jones’s juniper bush in The Life of Brian.

?Questions to ask:

How do you incorporate client’s views into your design? (Check for the hierarchical levels and numbers of people included)

How do you arrive at the final design decision?

What factors make for the best workplace design?

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?Understand Employee Needs

Engage employees to understand how they work and what they need from the space. Observe team dynamics and get feedback on the current workspace.?Tailor the design to support the specific needs of the organization and its people. By focusing on these key principles and putting employees at the centre of the design process, organizations can create high-performance workplaces that drive engagement, productivity and business success.

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And so we step out of the spotlight of design brilliance and into the wings of well, winging it. Design is not expert in engagement, nor in team dynamics, although impressions may be otherwise . Just two reasons why design cannot provide “high-performance workplaces” without significant help.

?Some design companies employ their own in-house, psychologist, some of whom are outstanding. Not as good as me, obviously ??, but good, knowledgeable and helpful. Other A&D businesses employ psychologists who would do better sitting on a stool balancing fishes on their noses (see Cheat Sheet: Psychologist, up next). They are unfit for purpose.

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Questions to ask

How do you assess team dynamics (or whatever variable emerges)?

How do you put employees at the centre of the design process (and here note that consultation puts employees on the periphery of the process, only active involvement moves people to a central position)?

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Have fun. A&D is a superb device capable of wonder and utility, so long as it realizes it lacks the people knowledge required to lead projects. Design led concepts provide suboptimal solutions. Used at its best, as led design, as a supportive construct en route to a great places to work, design is utterly fabulous.

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References

Baldry, C., Bain, P., & Taylor, P. (1998) ‘Bright satanic offices’: Intensification, control and team Taylorism’ In P. Thompson & C. Warhurst, (Eds.) Workplaces of the future (pp.163-183). Basingstoke: Macmillan.

Baldry, C., & Hallier, J. (2010). Welcome to the house of fun: Workspace and identity. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 31, 150 – 171

Knight, CP (2021) The end of the affair, the return to offices and the route to happiness: Employment lessons from the pandemic. London, Client report

Knight, C.P., & Haslam, S.A. (2010a). Your place or mine? Organizational identification and comfort as mediators of relationships between the managerial control of workspace and employees’ satisfaction and well-being. British Journal of Management, 21, 717-735.

There are plenty more

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