Space10 brought partitions back into its office in a redesign by Spacon & X
With hot-desking, working from home and co-working on the rise, Space10 co-founder Simon Caspersen calls for the end of the open-plan office.
The wall-free layout that has dominated offices over the past decade "simply wasn't working" said Caspersen. He believes that bringing partitions back into workspaces can better support concentration and wellbeing.
Space10's open-plan office layout "simply wasn't working" said co-founder Simon Caspersen
Space10 did exactly this in the recent overhaul of its office in Copenhagen, designed to offer workers opportunities flexibility and privacy when needed.
"One major decision [in the re-design] was to get rid of the open-plan office; it simply wasn't working," Caspersen told Dezeen. "It was stressful, you were interrupted a lot, and you didn't feel like you had delivered the best quality of work."
"It meant that people would either work from home a lot of the time, or would stay in after-hours because that was when they could actually concentrate on their tasks," he added.
Partitions allow for an adaptable workspace
Space10 is an innovation lab set up by IKEA to explore how people will live and work in the future. Projects they have worked on include a study into the food of the future and a vision of the potential uses of autonomous vehicles.
Caspersen and his team see the future of happy and productive workspaces divided by partitions that are customised to adapt to changing needs.
Panels can be added or removed to change the office interior from private cubicles to an open meeting room or a semi-open shared area, giving employees more control over what they can get from their space.
"It is much more than having one size fits all," explained Caspersen. "We wanted to give our workers a stronger sense of ownership over their surroundings."
"Everyone, everyday, can switch between the most ideal workspace for them, depending on their state of mind, their personality, or what they are tasked to do."
Caspersen believes that this is the key to promoting mental wellbeing and productivity in the workplace.
Productivity increases in peaceful environments
While he sees the open-plan office as distracting and stress-inducing, he believes it is important to maintain the sense of collectivity that it offers, but in a healthier way.
"The more we focus on creating a peaceful environment for people to work in, where they are happy and satisfied and feel good, the more productive they become," he said. "So the side-effects of nurturing human beings actually results in a lot more quality work coming out."