Meet the 2020 Next Work Environment Competition Honorable Mentions

- Advertisement-

Popular Articles

Chair of the Month

Michelle Weiss
Michelle Weiss
Michelle Weiss is our Publisher.

The high-calibre of submissions did not make it easy for our jurors so they awarded seven submissions with honorable mention status. Check them out!

Building Amenities / Common Areas – Stantec

Team Members: Tamara Roy, Larry Grossman, Ben Stracco, Tom Urtz, Kate Lux, Ali Carleo

For their submission, titled The BEAT, Stantec assembled some of their geniuses and formed a multidisciplinary team of architects, urban & lab planners, graphic designer, and a sustainability expert to make a strategic plan for transformation. Using Kendall Square in Cambridge as a precedent, their plan focused on three pillars: the sense of community created outside of the buildings, it’s consciousness (awareness to do what’s right) and finally the character, or vibe that is unique to the location and people. The main hall is filled with Life, Light and art and most importantly, coffee in the morning and beer in the evening. Spaces like a fitness center, outdoor grownup playgrounds and walking paths, indoor bike storage and repair shop are all parts of creating opportunities for people to incorporate healthy choices and wellness into their daily routines. Communal spaces like a rooftop deck, help build community and fit the sustainability plan for obtaining LEED Silver and Fitwell certifications.

Change Management – HGA

Team Members: Amin Mojtahedi, Win Roney, Ada Mestad, Lisa Macaluso, Susan Foong, Christa Galbraith

Team HGA’s submission was based on data-based, employee-driven approach that relies on four assumptions and six key steps.

Assumptions:

  1. From Phases to a Continuum
  2. Change by Movement
  3. Equity of Access
  4. From Individual to Team

Key Steps:

  1. Frame Motivations
  2. Form Coalition
  3. Map Project Journeys
  4. Build Potential
  5. Prototype Change
  6. Scale Change

Coworking – unispace

Team Members: Meg Campbell, Elizabeth Spatola, John Rissmiller, Brandon Werner, Coleman Barnes, Samantha Worth

Creating a COVID-friendly coworking space while fostering collaborations and connections and navigating high traffic areas were the biggest challenges. Team unispace choose to concentrate on reintroductions in the reception area, easing tensions in the workspaces, and reconnecting in the cafe. Striving to create a stress-free stroll through the space, this submission emulates a walk through nature or a hike in the woods, promoting an environment to wander and organically work in a calming setting.

3000 SF Workspaces – Wolcott Architecture

Team Members: Nicole Carrasco, Michael Powell, Sandy Turkowitz, Andie Chang

In this submission, titled ReWork, the team defined work in terms of five core experiences, situated in five modules:

  1. Entrance
  2. Collaboration
  3. Social
  4. Focus
  5. Office

Next they implemented a flexible Kit Of Parts that includes specific design elements that represent new ways to approach the pandemic-era workplace environment and beyond. We counted at least 47 parts in the kit!

3000 SF Workspaces – Sera Architects

Team Members: Carissa Mylin, Josh Cabot, Laura Kienlen, Kaitlyn Pratt, Julia Morris, Mia Allen

Our jurors reported that reviewing this Playing Games at Work submission really was fun. Rather than a defined design, this submission proposes a realtime design process modeled as a game that teams play as conditions change and opportunities arise. Think of the open office as a gameboard, cholk full of possibility as furniture and mobile enclosures are deployed intuitively within the logic of an invisible (augmented reality) grid to creatively address a given team’s current scenario at hand. The ease and interactivity of gameplay offers a fun and fruitful way for teams to envision a collectively-adaptable workspace. Player types included: Hummingbird, Eager Beaver, Lone Wolf, and House Cat.

Workstation – Teknion

Team members: Candace Samuel, Tim Au Yeung, Rachel Naar, Garrett Peddigrew

This Transition Workstation submission foreshadowed the need for returning employees to feel safe and comfortable while keeping in mind safe distances that need to be maintained. Employees will not want to be constantly reminded of the need to remain separate since this can cause a build-up of stress leading to other problems. They will not want negative reminders of our recent past. Workstations should be made safe, smart and effective but still encourage community and be in a similar place to when they left prior to the lockdown of public spaces.

Workstation – DOVAT Team Uruguay

Team Members: Juan Pedro Maronna, Josefina Viana, Eugenia Ricciardi, Rafael Ferres

This team designed two complimentary solutions that combine shape and material; a device for individual work and a cabin for collaboration. The “fold and go” device is designed for individual work outside of the office and having a close experience with nature. The Cabin is designed to give the comfort and technology needed to collaborate with others outside of the office. Connectivity, shade, equipment combined with nature and fresh air.

 

Didn’t get a chance to submit this year?

Stay tuned: The Next Work Environment Competition will return in 2021! Subscribe to our complimentary newsletter here to be the first to know the details!

- Advertisement -

More Articles

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

- Advertisement -

Latest Articles

- Advertisement-