Spaces and Lighting to Create Great Places to Work

By Vilma Barr

The post-pandemic era is witness to the most momentous change in office design since open office came on the scene more than a half-century ago. Working from home, which was an option particularly appealing to working mothers and craftspeople, became a national drag on the economy.

With the onset of the pandemic in Spring 2020, entire floors of office buildings around the country went dark. Building owners had to reassess why people want to come to an office to work, and try to create incentives to bring the people back and turn the lights on. “The ultimate goal from a business perspective will be to provide the right environment to foster the business strategy,” said Marco Huber, vice president of workplace strategy for real estate firm, Jones Lang Lasalle. “We can also observe how space influences strategy—directly and indirectly. This is something many business leaders became aware of during the pandemic,” Huber pointed out.

“Prioritize people, the essential component,” Huber believes. By listening to individual and organizational needs, designers are ultimately responsible for translating this spatially, he indicates.

A RESPONSIVE WORKFORCE

Gensler, the largest American international architecture and interior design firm, undertook its 2022 Workplace Survey, the current version of a research effort first undertaken in 2008. Data was collected from an anonymous, panel-based online survey of more than 2,000 U.S. office workers in 10 industries conducted between June 14, 2022 and August 7, 2022.

In a recent podcast, Janet Pogue, Global Director of Workplace Research and a principal at Gensler, discussed survey results about reasons employees are returning to the office, how the workplace can more effectively support them, and the mix of experiences to help accelerate their return.

“Our data reveals that workers in high-performing workplaces report that they want to come into the office more regularly to maximize their productivity. They say it’s a great place to get work done,” Pogue reported. “Workplaces that are both effective and offer a great experience present a range of well-lit work settings from quiet zones and focus rooms to innovation hubs and maker spaces. Spaces for creative collaboration and individual work have the most impact of space effectiveness and experience,” Pogue explained.

“A significant recalibration of the role of the workplace in attracting people back to the office is underway. We’re noticing an increase in demand for hospitality-like amenities in and around these buildings to make the office feel like a destination rather than an obligation,” Pogue stated. “Workers still value the office as a place to focus on their work, but they are looking for a more diverse spectrum of spaces and experiences to create a place where they want to be.”

Case Study: T-MOBILE HEADQUARTERS

Bellevue, Washington

Brand Expression Through Light

T-Mobile’s renovated Pacific Northwest campus headquarters encompasses over one million square feet of workspace designed to promote innovation and collaboration among its tech and support workers in an environment where its brand and culture are unifying elements. At the heart of the Bellevue campus, two vibrant amenity floors encourage gathering and relaxing with a range of options including six diverse dining kiosks, a vintage Airstream serving frozen yogurt, a Starbucks, a pub, and a happy hour bar.

T-Mobile’s signature magenta hue appears throughout, in finishes, elements such as doors, break room enclosures, carpeting, upholstery, and lighting for ceilings and as shades for ceiling-hung fixtures. The company, the nation’s third-largest wireless carrier with $79.571 billion in revenue in 2022, employs 6,200 workers at the Bellevue site, currently undergoing an extensive multi-million renovation. The renovation does not include any demolition of buildings or construction of new ones.

A conference room with a patterned magenta carpet and wood ceiling is dramatized by a deep cove containing an array of slim wire suspended black and white fixtures.

Photo Credit: Heywood Chan, courtesy of Gensler

Dark Light Design worked closely with Gensler’s architecture and interiors teams to carefully place magenta accents, “magenta moments,” where they would serve multiple functions. The designers employed a variety of means, including the interaction with translucent materials, a direct light source, and indirect illuminance. Amenity zones were shown to be high on the list for a workplace community in Gensler’s study. Included in places workers wish to gather and meet are those for a quick conversation, lunch, coffee break, and after-work drink.

Photo Credit: Heywood Chan, courtesy of Gensler

According to Dark Light Design, light supports each of these spaces through various illumination levels and contrast, layered material highlights, and the use of scaling elements from low-level accents to large-scale graphic washes. Lighting is also employed to create wayfinding connections through multiple buildings and sky bridges. Elevator lobbies are bathed in magenta light offering a visual change of pace from the white background desk worker group enclosures.

White shade ceiling fixtures are decorative and functional in this multi-use space. The lighting program made maximum use of daylight and flexible control.

Photo Credit: Heywood Chan, courtesy of Gensler

Several meeting and huddle rooms are furnished with impromptu teaming benches, brainstorming walls spaced along the walking paths, and lighting rods drawing conversations into the communal space and away from desking shelters. In a two-level open space, a new 1,000-square-foot grand staircase connects the amenity floors and doubles as amphitheater seating. Overhead is a group of white double-shade fixtures in a square configuration.

A two-level open area features a 1,000-square-foot wood staircase that connects the amenity floors and doubles as amphitheater seating. A group of white double shade fixtures in a square configuration identifies the space.

Photo Credit: Heywood Chan, courtesy of Gensler

Analysis of the overall illumination energy use revealed 0.47 W/sf, including the magenta branding elements. The lighting program made maximum use of daylight integration and flexible user control.

Overall, the unity of the design approach by Gensler and Dark Light Design makes for a workplace that is contemporary, casual and stylish, expressing a sense of place personalized by individual workers at all skill levels. “By listening to the needs of their employees and incorporating their unique, customer-centric culture into the design, the resulting ecosystem provides workers areas for collaboration or a quiet place to carry out their tasks,” observes Janet Pogue. “We know we’ve succeeded in providing the environment where each employee can feel confident and can contribute their talents to the success of the group and of the company,” she says.

“When we hear that there is a consensus that ‘It’s a great place to get work done!’ it represents the foundation for effective productivity. As designers of spaces and lighting for offices, we’ve contributed to the bottom line of the client and the positive mindset of the workforce.” Pogue concludes. ■

Architecture and interiors: Gensler

Lighting: Dark Light Design, Seattle; Ron Kurtz, Principal