The corporate workplace was traditionally the primary place where work—in its many forms—was conducted. It also represented the brand and image of an enterprise and had the promise of both representing and enabling the culture of that organization.
If we are to understand the motivations driving the creation of new places of work, we must also understand that the nature of the traditional organization has changed dramatically in recent years. Advances in technology and shifting attitudes among consumers are altering the purpose of organizations, as well as the bonds that hold them together. Additionally, in our highly-connected world, populations and workers are becoming increasingly mobile. The combination of these and a myriad of other factors present challenges, as well as opportunities.
Historically, the organizations we created were served by structures put in place to facilitate the communication of ideas and control a wide range of activities from the top down. Intellectual property was controlled by a select few, and mechanisms of delivery were designed for the efficient communication of commands down the pyramid to the levels where products—regardless of whether they were physical or services—were created. Workers at the lower levels of an organization—those closest to final creation—were selected and engaged primarily based upon their ability to ensure efficient and precise execution of orders. Once a big idea came to life, work for most people became rote, repetitive, and centered on executing someone else’s commands. Employees were there to serve the purpose of the organization—and were rewarded in the form of a paycheck, which helped to serve their personal needs.
For most, work stopped once outside of the physical boundaries of an organization. And those physical environments weren’t intended to inspire. Rather, they were considered unavoidable costs to a business—something that needed to be contained. Additionally, design considerations for these places addressed only a handful of factors: the efficiency of physical movement, the utilization of space, and the containment of the cost of production. Physical proximity with those whom you worked with was critical, as communication with co-workers was limited to face-to-face exchanges. Moreover, the nature of the work focused on efficiency and precise repetition of process. Efficiency and achieving economies of scale were critical to driving down the cost of operation and, in turn, increasing profits.
As a result, innovation was incremental and driven at a slow pace by economic forces that played out over years—sometimes decades—and were more-or-less confined to the country of operation. Companies did not feel global pressure in the way they do today.
The Origin of the Corporate Workplace
The origins of what we know to be the corporate workplace came to be during a post-World War II corporate headquarters building boom beginning in the 1950s and extending into the first part of the 1960s. It was epitomized by the classic corporate architecture of SOM’s Union Carbide Headquarters in New York City; Eero Saarinen’s John Deere Headquarters in Moline, Illinois; SOM’S Lever House in New York City; Saarinen’s IBM Research Facility in Rochester, Minnesota; and Connecticut General Life Insurance Company Headquarters by SOM.