Tuesday, 11 September 2012

Several Ideas About Choosing Office Furniture

By Hannah Neil


In the mid to late 20th Century, working spaces were noisy and cluttered areas, with a constant series of distractions, so office furniture and style were not a priority. Desks were squashed in together, just as an attempt to save space within the premises. There was no privacy for the individual workers, and created a tense working environment. People would get jostled whenever someone went to visit the bathroom, and telephone calls were made and received against a constant background of noise.

This chaotic, and inefficient, working environment was noticed by a man called Robert Propst. At the time he was working as research designer for the home furnishing company, Herman Miller. Robert Propst came up with the design of the 'Action Office'. The purpose of this was to create a more dynamic and flexible workspace.

His idea was to create more privacy for the individual worker, but still to keep them within the given space. While completing their various tasks, the individual would not have to be affected by the previously mentioned distractions. The idea worked, and productivity increased notably.

Being of a flexible design, each of them could be set up to suit each individual company's requirements. Larger or smaller work spaces could be created, just by moving the partition walls. These 'Action Offices' came with a variety of working surfaces, some of which could be altered in height.

Version 2 of the concept was introduced in the early seventies. It still retained the partitions, but the heights could be moved. This proved exceedingly worthwhile with the new concepts of working groups. All of those involved within the same project could be in direct contact with their co-workers, over the tops of the lowered partitions. They would still be separated from those working on other things. The individual would still retain their own personal work area.

To avoid tripping over electrical leads that might be laid across the floor, each desk and work surface would be connected to a socket in the floor or overhead. Via self contained junction boards, the various lights, computers and monitors would then be connected. An important concern with regards to, Health and Safety in the workplace.

The partition panels are very important parts of the design and not just for hiding your snazzy new office furniture. By forming personal work spaces a lot of visual distractions are avoided. They can be moved anywhere within the solid walls of the main area, and so create innumerable configurations. They are covered in a noise deadening medium, which helps with audible distractions. Price wise they are also cheaper than traditional models.




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