Real Estate Journal — Owners, Developers & Managers — July 25 - August 14, 2014 — 9B
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M id A tlantic
A rchitects & E ngineers By John R. Sorrenti, FAIA, JRS Architect, PC Emerging trends in office space design that will save you money
T
he economic downturn of the past several years has prompted
and natural light in the design of the employees’ environ- ment. The removal of barriers such as lower work station separa- tors or none at all promotes interaction and collaboration. This new open office plan can now incorporate corridors, backrooms and break areas creating informal, café-style meeting zones. This is an atmosphere especially ap- preciated by creative staff members. Hotelling offers advantages to organizations built around a mobile workforce. Rather than assigning specific work-
stations to employees, reserva- tions are made for communal desks that can serve a team of employees as individual visits to the office dictate. This allows companies to allocate less space for desks, reaping significant savings on square footage no longer needed for this purpose. The open space created by these strategies is made more valuable as technological ad- vances in communication de- vices and connectivity free workers from their worksta- tions. Many people can now work anywhere, inside or away from the office. This in
turn allows business owners to use a lesser amount of space for a multiplicity of purposes. The emergence of “the cloud” as a solution to data storage adds yet another layer of potential savings with ma- jor investments in computer rooms and equipment no long necessary. Finally business owners are rethinking the way they conference. In the past it was common for firms to have several conference rooms all dedicated specifically for that purpose. Today, with a grow- ing shift to teleconferencing and webinars the focus is on
a single, modular conference area with multiple points of connectivity and movable par- titions. Large staff meetings can be accommodated in the full size mode, or 2 or 3 smaller rooms created by repositioning partition walls. These and other emerging trends in office space design are giving landlords and ten- ants the tools to construct transformative 21st Century office space that saves money while meeting all their busi- ness needs. John R. Sorrenti is the founder and president of JRS Architect, PC . n
bus i ne s s e s bo th l arge and small to r eeva l ua t e their use of space and to explore new efficiencies. With annual office lease
John R. Sorrenti
expenses second only to sala- ries in many cases, the desire to reduce these expenses has led commercial tenants to seek out flexibility in office space, with an overall objective of scaling down the amount of space per worker. At the same time, smart employers are sensitive to the needs of their people to work in surround- ings that are comfortable, stimulating and that promote positive work flow results. To allow for the employee not to feel “cramped” it is important to consider sound attenuation Blackney honored with Mary S. Irick Drexel Award PHILADELPHIA, PA — Drexel University’s Goodwin College of Professional Stud- ies has selected Blackney Hayes Architects principal and Drexel alumnus, Kevin Blackney, AIA , as the 2014 recipient of the Universi- ty’s prestigious Mary S. Irick Drexel Award. The Mary S. Irick Drexel Award is presented annually to an outstanding alumnus or alumna of Goodwin College in recognition of past contribu- tions and a continuing inter- est and active participation in Drexel activities and in its development in all areas. The award, which is Drexel’s oldest, was named by George W. Childs Drexel in honor of his wife. Kevin Blackney accepted the award during a ceremony in the Mitchell Auditorium at Drexel’s Bossone Research Center on June 6th Blackney earned his architecture degree from Drexel in 1985 and went on to co-found Blackney Hayes Architects in 1988. Based in Center City, Blackney Hayes specializes in interactive and sustainable design and has been repeatedly recognized for its achievements in interior design, historic preservation, and adaptive reuse. n
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