The elements of creative office are well known—fewer walls, natural lighting, collaborative space, high ceilings, game rooms, and so on—but the more interesting question is why do companies want these? The experts at our Orange County Office of the Future event tackled the topic. (The first part of our coverage is here.) Snapped: Cross Campus co-founder Ronen Olshansky, who has developed collaborative office space in Santa Monica (where Bisnow offices), and is at work on other SoCal properties, and IA Interior Architects Brian Koshley, who specializes in workplace design.
Tangram CEO Joe Lozowski, Hughes Marino director Tucker Hughes, and Hulu facilities chief Sara Mailloux, who’s overseeing the doubling in size of the company’s HQ campus. In virtually any industry, the panel points out, social connection is the number-one predictor of worker satisfaction, so designing a workplace that promotes social connection is an essential part of creative office. The rub, however, is that different companies need different design elements to archive that.
Friedman Stroff & Gerard attorney Jennifer Stroffe, who moderated, and DBaC VP Bruce Asper. Often, it’s the execs who make the real estate decisions, and they have to be reminded that the space isn’t for them—it’s for talented young workers. Still, accommodations have to be made for private calls or work, since completely open space can mean interruptions.
