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This thesis is concerned with the provision of multimedia services (involving voice, video, text and graphics) in an office environment. The office of the future is expected to comprise a heterogeneous collection of workstations and multimedia components (including fileservers, voice and video codecs, document scanners, laser printers, etc) interlinked by a high speed (digital) local area network. Every office is likely to have one or more connections to a public Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) providing integrated access (involving various types of traffic) to a very large number of subscribers. This thesis considers general issues relating to the design of such an office. Particular attention is given to the problem of the integration of media both at the network and user levels. Much of this discussion draws on practical experience gained during the Alvey Unison Project in which experimental multimedia offices were interconnected using a pilot ISDN. The architecture of the Unison network is discussed with particular reference to its suitability for the support of multimedia services. The bulk of this thesis is devoted to a description of the design and implementation of a number of prototype multimedia applications, and to an evaluation of their performance over the network. The handling of slow-scan video and high resolution images have been particular areas 01 interest. Much emphasis is placed on the problem of control in a distributed environment, and a model is presented for the management of control based on the use of a directory-like service. This model also provides a mechanism for locating an office service based on the name of the user to whom it belongs.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Garret L. Lukens, for the Master of Architecture Degree in Architecture, presented on June 26, 2009, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: Office Design: Designing for Productivity in the Workplace MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Craig Anz This paper presents the potential for productivity in the workplace and the factors that influence it as it pertains to an architectural design project in Carbondale, IL. The project focuses on the physical, psychological, and functional affects that the built environment has, both negatively and positively, on the occupants of the facility. The design project is a 3-story office building for Leo Burnett Advertising Agency that will strive to increase the productivity of the staff within the spatial structure. As companies struggle to meet the financial demands of today's market, they tend to lose sight of the potential for productivity when faced with the initial and operational costs of the facility in which they work. Instead of trying to bring in an over abundance of employees to compensate for the lack of quality and production, employers should consider what can be done to unveil the potential of the current employees and increase their productivity. There are many factors that affect the productivity of people within their work environment. Environmental and workplace design plays a significant role on the productivity levels of the employees that work in an office building. Ensuring that employees have proper workstations to meet their needs, comfortable and healthy work conditions, and spaces that they enjoy to work in aids in their productivity. The building typology as well as the unique programmatic demands would challenge any designer to create a space that increases productivity for the workers and inspires their minds to create for themselves.

Due to the change of thought and external environment, design of the physical environment is more and more important than before. Based on the interview with the office designers, four cases and the questionnaires, this research tried to find out: 1.The design of the current working environment, 2.The key factors of the workplace which affect worker¡¦s performance, 3.Try to offer the corporations useful suggestions when design or redesign workplace. The main conclusions of this research are as following: 1.The basic is more important than esthetics 2.Office layout is according to level 3.The setting of amenities is limit to the total area of a company 4.The office design which could make the work easier is the most important, the second one is the design make workers feel comfortable, and the third one is aesthetic factors.

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The transformation of the office from the standard bullpen configuration to today's dynamic, flexible and open floorplans has required new design methodologies that incorporate tools and technologies that are readily available to interior designers. Moreover, the increased use of teams in the workplace challenges interior designers to create environments that accommodate group and individual tasks. This two-phased research study explored the use of a web-based pattern language as a new tool for designing and evaluating teaming spaces. Pattern language is a design formulation methodology developed in 1977 by Christopher Alexander and his associates. It consists of a series of interrelated physical elements combined to create a framework for design solutions. A web-based pattern language for teaming environments was created by this researcher and evaluated by an e-mail questionnaire sent to a sample of expert design professionals. The feedback from the survey was used to revise the existing language and was the tool used for phase two. This phase tested the pattern language against an existing teaming environment by having the researcher evaluate the space determining the inclusion of each pattern. A focus group was also surveyed and the results of both evaluations were compared for similarities. The results of phase one showed that of those design professionals surveyed, the majority believe pattern language could be a valuable design as well as evaluation tool. Phase two results showed similarities between the responses by the researcher compared with those of the focus group. In summary, pattern language may be a useful tool for the design and evaluation of teaming environments. / Master of Science

An employed individual will spend between a quarter and a third of his or her waking life at the workplace. An estimated 40% of those in South Africa who are employed full-time work in offices. With the amount of time spend in buildings, the physical conditions in the workplace are important determinants of satisfaction, comfort, well-being, and effectiveness and can even play a role in mental health. The physical environment in offices should therefore be carefully planned, designed, and managed. This qualitative study, sought to develop an inter-cultural office design framework for South Africa combining Eastern and Western design principles. Specifically, it sought to obtain a better insight into design principles which can enhance the well-being of office workers; inter-cultural, gender neutral and age neutral design principles which can be applied in a South African context. To be able to answer these questions an intensive literature review was undertaken investigating both the Eastern design principles as expressed in feng shui and Western design principles as expressed in Environmental Social Science. The design principles of these two traditions were compared and all aspects where the two traditions did not support each other were included in the in-depth interviews. Twenty-five in-depth interviews were conducted By relying on various design cultures (e.g. Eastern and Western) an environment can be created which are pleasing and can enhance the well-being of the users. Underlying design principles are universal, but the symbolic expression thereof can differ from culture to culture. One of the conclusions from this study is that three quarters of design principles are v universal. There is no one size fits all solution and compromise is necessary from all involved. The compromise applies to the roughly a quarter of design aspects where subgroup differences have been detected. Any design should take individual and group difference into account. The only way to do this is to get proper input from all stakeholders at all stages of the design. It is critically important that the input starts before the design process commences. There are many design principles which can be implemented to improve the quality of work life of office workers in the South African context. Design can for example play a very important role in encouraging and facilitating formal and informal interaction in the workplace – bridging the gap between heterogeneous groups. Without forcing relationships, design can assist in naturally integrating heterogeneous groups. The physical environment must support the image and identity which needs to be communicated, facilitate communication and enable task accomplishment. Most of all it must become a place with which employees can identify and where they can develop a sense of place. From this study it can be concluded that not only form follows function but also that aesthetics follow function – a principle that design should be based on the primary purpose of the building, the workspace based on the needs of the stakeholders and from this starting point aesthetics will flow. / Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Consulting Psychology)

An employed individual will spend between a quarter and a third of his or her waking life at the workplace. An estimated 40% of those in South Africa who are employed full-time work in offices. With the amount of time spend in buildings, the physical conditions in the workplace are important determinants of satisfaction, comfort, well-being, and effectiveness and can even play a role in mental health. The physical environment in offices should therefore be carefully planned, designed, and managed. This qualitative study, sought to develop an inter-cultural office design framework for South Africa combining Eastern and Western design principles. Specifically, it sought to obtain a better insight into design principles which can enhance the well-being of office workers; inter-cultural, gender neutral and age neutral design principles which can be applied in a South African context. To be able to answer these questions an intensive literature review was undertaken investigating both the Eastern design principles as expressed in feng shui and Western design principles as expressed in Environmental Social Science. The design principles of these two traditions were compared and all aspects where the two traditions did not support each other were included in the in-depth interviews. Twenty-five in-depth interviews were conducted By relying on various design cultures (e.g. Eastern and Western) an environment can be created which are pleasing and can enhance the well-being of the users. Underlying design principles are universal, but the symbolic expression thereof can differ from culture to culture. One of the conclusions from this study is that three quarters of design principles are v universal. There is no one size fits all solution and compromise is necessary from all involved. The compromise applies to the roughly a quarter of design aspects where subgroup differences have been detected. Any design should take individual and group difference into account. The only way to do this is to get proper input from all stakeholders at all stages of the design. It is critically important that the input starts before the design process commences. There are many design principles which can be implemented to improve the quality of work life of office workers in the South African context. Design can for example play a very important role in encouraging and facilitating formal and informal interaction in the workplace – bridging the gap between heterogeneous groups. Without forcing relationships, design can assist in naturally integrating heterogeneous groups. The physical environment must support the image and identity which needs to be communicated, facilitate communication and enable task accomplishment. Most of all it must become a place with which employees can identify and where they can develop a sense of place. From this study it can be concluded that not only form follows function but also that aesthetics follow function – a principle that design should be based on the primary purpose of the building, the workspace based on the needs of the stakeholders and from this starting point aesthetics will flow. / Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Consulting Psychology)

In this thesis, I discuss how office design such as desk layouts interacts with organizational culture. Several questions motivate my study: 1) how office layout affects human interaction and work relationships; 2) how the physical setting affects the psychological and communicative aspects of work; 3) does the layout express or define culture. Physical design is bound together with organizational culture in an extricable and reciprocal relationship. The layout of the office fosters and encourages the cultural behavior of workers within the organization by the physical proximity of employees, while the organizational culture largely dominates the design and layout of the office. This interconnection ultimately affects how employees interact and communicate with one another. I explore the relationship between design and culture in steps, by explaining the progression and formation of culture, by showing that culture legitimizes layout and design, and by exploring how the culture and design foster and support organizational members’ behaviors. Office design and purpose have evolved over time because the nature of the members tasks and responsibilities are fluid and ever-changing; thus, the demand for interaction and communication changes, as well.

Dagens föränderliga samhälle ställer höga krav på organisationers anpassningsförmåga vilket i sin tur kräver att utformningen av arbetsplatser ska kunna möta denna föränderlighet. Ett kontorskoncept som vinner mark på alltfler svenska företag är det aktivitetsbaserade konceptet. På en aktivitetsbaserad arbetsplats, som är uppbyggd efter olika zoner, ska medarbetarna kunna välja plats som stödjer den arbetsuppgift som för tillfället utförs. Fördelarna med dessa arbetsplatser framförs vara minskad lokalyta, ökad kommunikation samt större produktivitet. Syftet med denna uppsats är att få en förståelse för hur medarbetarna i en offentlig organisation upplever den aktivitetsbaserade arbetsplatsen. Vidare vill vi undersöka om avsikten med införandet av det nya kontorskonceptet har infriats i medarbetarnas upplevelser. Undersökningen genomfördes på Kungälvs stadshus som nyligen har börjat arbeta aktivitetsbaserat. Undersökningen har en kvalitativ ansats där intervjuer och observationer har genomförts. De framträdande slutsatserna i undersökningen visar att respondenternas upplevelser av arbetsplatsen, i de flesta fall, inte var kopplade till det aktivitetsbaserade kontorskonceptet som sådant, utan istället till den fysiska miljön. Flertalet upplevde att arbetsplatsen fungerade bra i förhållande till deras arbete. Däremot framkom att upplevelsen av arbetsplatsen skiljde sig något åt beroende på respondenternas uppdrag. Det framkom även att medarbetarna inte utnyttjade arbetsplatsens alla resurser och var begränsade i sin rörlighet. Vidare infriades vissa av avsikterna med införandet av kontorskonceptet i respondenternas upplevelser, medan vissa inte gjorde det. Denna undersöknings värde ligger i att det forskningsaktuella läget är begränsat och att de flesta studier som gjorts på området är kvantitativt riktade. Vidare belyser undersökningen, det allt för sällan undersökta, medarbetarperspektivet. / Today’s changeable society requires a great deal of organizations adaptability which in turn puts high demands on the office design to meet this changeability. An office concept that is attaining more attention from Swedish organizations is the activity-based concept. At an activity-based workplace, which is made up by different activity-areas, the employee can choose a workstation that best supports the activity at hand. Some of the uttered pros of activity-based workplaces are the decrease in use of office space as well as the increase in communication and productivity. The purpose of this research is to receive an understanding for the employee’s experience of the activity-based workplace, in a public organization. We will furthermore view if the intentions with the implementation, of the office concept, are shown in the employees’ experiences. The research was carried out at Kungälvs stadshus who just recently started working activity-based. Interviews and observations, with a qualitative approach, were carried out. The major findings of this research was that the respondents experiences of the workplace, in most cases, weren’t connected to the activity-based concept as such. Instead it was connected to the physical environment. The majority of the respondents experienced that the workplace supported them in their work. However, the experiences differed some, due to the employee’s assignment. Another finding was that the employees didn’t use all the resources in the workplace and was restricted in their mobility. Further the research shows that some of the intentions, with the implementation of the office concept, are shown in the employees’ experiences and some of the intentions are not shown. The value of this research lies in the fact that the research in this area is limited and the research that exists is done with a quantitative approach. Furthermore, the research illuminates the, all too rarely researched employee-perspective.