From ‘cathedrals’ of interaction to diverse workplace settings

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, vast open-plan office floor plates were the predominant workplace design trend, spurred on by technology companies and a “bigger, better, faster, more” credo. Office slides, bean bags, ice cream chefs on site – you name it.

This talk will critique this approach based on nuanced research on the impact of seating positions in open-plan offices and argue that smaller, more intimate settings provide better working conditions, supportive of both concentration and collaboration. Taking this further and reflecting on the effects of the pandemic on workplace design, it becomes clear that paradigms have changed.

Creating a diversity of workplace settings made for hybrid work and thus moving away from the model of the ‘sea of desks’ and a one-size-fits-all approach that suits nobody seems the way forward in order to support successful, joyful and inclusive workplaces.

Timing: 7am Pacific / 8am Mountain / 9am Central/ 10am Eastern / 11am BRT / 3pm BST/ 4pm CEST / 4pm SAST

Speaker: Dr Kerstin Sailer

Dr Kerstin Sailer is a Professor in the Sociology of Architecture at UCL’s Bartlett School of Architecture as well as founder and director of the workplace consultancy and thinktank brainybirdz. An architect by training and a sociologist at heart, she has studied aspects of human behaviour and space usage throughout her career. Her research combines processes and practices of work, play and restoration with the architectural layout of buildings such as offices, hospitals, care spaces and schools.