The document discusses how designing workspaces to encourage collaboration and engagement can positively impact employees and business outcomes. It provides several examples of projects where integrating employees in the design process, including open floor plans, lounge areas, and temporary collaborative spaces, led to higher worker engagement, productivity, and satisfaction with the work environment. The key message is that prioritizing collaboration in workspace design, through techniques like integrated project delivery, can foster innovation and better outcomes for both employees and clients.
5. Could the way we design workplaces affect engagement?
6. Design and construction amounts to 10% of a company’s total investment in its workspace
Design: 1%
Construction: 3%
Operations: 6%
Technology: 10%
People: 80%
7. When designing a work environment, first discuss how people will use that space.
8. When designing a work environment, first discuss how people will use that space.
10. High-traffic areas inspire serendipitous collaboration
In Fairfax, Virginia, Balfour Beatty Construction used integrated project delivery to build out its own regional office at Bridgewater Corporate Center. With a collaboration-friendly, open floorplan and advanced energy monitoring systems, the LEED Gold space showcases how projects can be built more efficiently and sustainably, with better outcomes for end users—who actually had a vote in the design process!
11. Working “outside the cube” helps innovators to connect
In San Francisco, Impact HUB sought to create a space where their membership community of entrepreneurs, activists, creatives, and professionals could drive positive social and environmental change. Located in the historic Hearst building on Mission Street, the project included an art gallery, meeting rooms, large events center, and a full kitchen/café, as well as 70 work stations and seven private offices.
12. Collaboration in design and construction helps create an engaging workspace
When Red Hat designed their new space, they recognized that collaboration among partners was key. Said Craig Youst, senior director of global facilities and real estate, “[Balfour Beatty’s] highly collaborative approach allows them to understand and influence our culture and workplace strategy, while also leverages their extensive construction knowledge. They are customer focused and raise the bar of excellence very high. Our Red Hat Associates rave about their workspace and how innovative it is, and Balfour Beatty as a Partner to Red Hat is a huge reason why.”
13. Office lounges rival the hottest off-site Wi-Fi hotspots
Why leave the office when cool, collaborative lounge areas are only steps away? Balfour Beatty provided construction services for Square Inc.’s office tenant improvement in their San Francisco office in the Hearst building on Mission Street. The build-out included innovative design features and was completed on a fast-track schedule.
14. Even temporary spaces can foster engagement—and productivity
On construction sites, most teams work in trailers or other forms of temporary space. But that doesn’t mean the space has to be boring! At the New Parkland Hospital jobsite, design team partners, subcontractor partners, the construction management team, and the client created a communal space to display virtual project plans on a panoramic screen and to paper the walls with color-coded sticky notes for some of the most animated collaborative activities on the project.
15. Sustainable space unites employees under one roof
When Balfour Beatty renovated a 1930s-vintage building to LEED Silver standards in Charlotte’s Historic South End, they sought to create an airy, open-concept space with ample spaces that encourage employees to collaborate.
16. Interested in a free consultation about your space? Let us know!
