Outdoor Office Collection from Herman Miller

Is an outdoor office in the future for your company? It might be if designers like Jonathon Olivares have anything to say about it. The mobile work trend has opened up many new buildings as potential workspaces. Employees may find themselves at a café, a coffee shop, a library, or even a shopping mall, checking email or performing other work-related tasks. Many of these facilities now expect that people will be using smart devices or laptops on-the-go and provide power outlets, charging stations, Wi-Fi, seating, and low worksurfaces to support these activities. But one massive space that’s been largely overlooked as a potential work zone is the great outdoors.

Working Outside the Box

In temperate regions of the United States, an open air office might attract a great deal of interest. That’s a future that Olivares has envisioned in some detail in his recent installation “The Outdoor Office”. The artistic 3-dimensional experimental models for this exhibit were featured at NeoCon 2013 and reside at the Art Institute of Chicago. The architectural components and office furniture for the al fresco workspace were conceived with inspiration from a very wide variety of sources in both the entertainment and office design communities.

While the idea of an outdoor working environment was originally met with disbelief by one of Olivares’ clients, the designer held firm to the notion that this future would become a reality. In fact, it’s already become common to see people working outdoors in good weather, making use of park benches, picnic tables, or whatever furniture is at hand. It isn’t much of a stretch to imagine offices taking advantage of their own outdoor real estate. Front lawns and landscaped areas could be equipped as flexible workspaces with furnishings that support focused work, collaboration, education, socialization, and presentation. Companies like Herman Miller and Knoll already have extensive collections of furniture that support work outdoors. Knoll’s line even features chairs by Olivares himself.

Considerations for Outfitting the Outdoor Office

Companies seeking to expand outside need to think about providing shade structures, orienting the partially covered workspaces to catch the breeze, and ensuring all materials can withstand local weather conditions. An outdoor office in New Orleans might need mildew resistant materials and additional ventilation to cope with humidity. However, the benefits of increased outdoor access for improving mood, creativity, productivity, and satisfaction for employees might be well worth the investment.

Fans of the popular television program The Office may be surprised to learn that they actually did quite a few things right when it comes down to their layout, design, and furniture selection. Find that a bit hard to believe? Then take a look at these observations, and consider:

• Optimized Traffic Flow – Next time you watch the show, pay attention to how people move through the office. Access to the front door is easy and open, and sends you right past their corporate gatekeeper. Employees desks are tucked off to the side, close to bathrooms, the break room, etc., without impacting the overall traffic flow through the office itself.
• Open Pattern – All parts of the layout and office design on The Office feature a modern, open pattern. This facilitates communication and efficiency in your work space, as both employees, visitors, and customers are all able to quickly and easily get where they need to be.

So the next time you sit down to catch an episode, pay attention to the way they decided to lay out their office and place their furniture. You may unexpectedly find a tip or two you can appropriate for use where you work.