In comfortable conditions

Acoustic furniture resembling sofas with canopies, massage armchairs, professionally furnished kitchens, internal cafeterias – all have recently become part-and-parcel of some Polish offices. Who is responsible for this change in approach to furnishings? As it happens, it’s the employers, but only by listening to and engaging their personnel in the selection and arrangement of their workplace. The latest concepts for furnishing offices are aimed at reflecting the structure and operations of the company in question. As a result, it is now possible to improve the lines of communication between individual employees and departments, and to streamline the information flow and the business processes. For the heads of many companies this is such an enticing vision that many more are now deciding to introduce such changes to their current premises, or to design a completely new office from scratch in a new building. There has also been a noticeable and increasingly clear trend for investing in human capital. This could be regarded as creeping ‘democratisation’ in the choice of location and the furnishing of the workplace.

Employee takes the floor

For many tenants the choice of a new location or a new office design is no longer determined the management of a given company. Some employers are also involving their employees in the process, hoping that the work performance will be improved if the office is designed by its users. Any genuine interest in the employee’s comfort and convenience is, of course, not without importance. “Employers are now taking the opinions of employees’ into consideration when it comes to the choice and design of the office, and this is related to the notion that staff represent a significant element of capital of a company. After

25 years of the free growth of work in modern space something is finally starting to happen. It is often ourselves who make the client aware that solutions are available that are friendlier towards their employees and that can be implemented within the limits of the adopted budget. These suggestions are increasingly being both welcomed and implemented,” says Bogusz Parzyszek, the president of the board of Workplace Solutions, which is involved in the design of offices. And who, if not the employee, knows best what they need to be happy at work? Because of this, ideas are now gaining traction that involve the staff in adjusting space to their requirements. “As a developer we are in touch with many different kinds of tenants.

In Warsaw we manage a combined office area of 220,000 sqm, half of which is in new buildings while the other half includes older buildings. When negotiating and renegotiating contracts we can see that employers are paying more and more attention to the layout of the office space and its functionality, with their employees in mind. Now not only the president of the company and its financial director come to view the prospective office space, but also someone from the HR department and representatives of the staff. Management boards are starting to speak the employees’ language,” remarks Magdalena Kowalewska, the head of asset management for offices and logistics in Poland at Immofinanz Group. Of course, this shift in responsibility is taking place within certain, usually budget-related, limits. However, there is no doubt that a democratisation process is now underway in terms of work space. This represents a challenge for developers, who now have to come up with an offer that observes the needs of not only a company’s executive, but also, to a greater extent, its employees. Meanwhile, the suppliers and manufacturers of office furniture are currently trying to outdo each other in terms of modern products. You can now buy acoustic furniture, panels, wall-to-wall carpets and soundproofed suspended ceilings, as well as systems that control the flow of employees. i.e. the utilisation of the office space. On top of all that there are also products for developers, e.g. air-conditioning and ventilation systems. But what is it that employees actually want? Savills has conducted some research into this. In May and June of this year, the SW Research study was commissioned by Savills to survey 500 employees of companies with more than 100 people. Managers constituted 20 pct of those surveyed and office staff made up the other 80 pct. According to the ‘What Workers Want’ survey, the mood of personnel is improved by offices designed for comfort, which includes the lighting (natural lighting is the most appreciated type), temperature control, noise levels (the less, the better) and the design of the office itself. Important amenities also included parking spaces, kitchens, green areas (terraces), a place to relax, meeting places (conference rooms), cafeterias, cycle parking spaces, nursery schools and showers. In order to combine all this and create comfortable conditions for all, Workplace Solutions has added a number of psychologists to its team. “A psychologist helps the employer to understand the interactions that take place between employees and entire teams, as well as how a given area will support their needs. Architects know how to design areas along certain principles of aesthetics, but they do not know about the relations that take place in environmental psychology. This results in offices where some areas are not used at all, because people do not feel comfortable there for various reasons. From the business point of view, such a semi-passive office is not profitable. A psychologist who knows the mechanisms of human behaviour in its various environments is able to suggest what will work in a given area and whether it will be well received by employees,” argues Bogusz Parzyszek.

Responding to the tenants

Tenants’ expectations are gradually turning into the expectations of employees. Newly-built office facilities in Poland are now being equipped with the latest solutions from the outset, designed to satisfy even the fussiest of people. Building certification has also become a standard. This approach is slightly easier for younger buildings, but older office buildings are in a slightly worse situation since they need something more to make them competitive on the current market. “There are a number of factors that can help developers to win over tenants. Location is most important factor, but there are a number of other significant issues. The dedicated team looking after a given tenant (also after the signing of a contract) is very crucial, as well as having a technical service team available on the spot along with personalised service. The newly-finished Nimbus building in Warsaw features mother and baby rooms. In our other locations there are cash machines, easy pack machines and even washing machines. We have also launched a cooperation with InPost to install terminals in our office buildings or reception areas. Our Immofinanz bus service delivers office employees

to transport hubs. All this has a positive impact on the comfort of work in an office building,” claims Magdalena Kowalewska. She goes on to add that the quality of customer care could be a decisive factor in older facilities. “On the one hand, the technical state of a building is what counts, on the other, it is the responsiveness, care and interest a developer offers to its tenants. In the case of relocations, it is the atmosphere and the relationship between the tenant and the lessor that matter most. This is why it is so important to appreciate our partners. In order to do this we organise ‘property walks’ – that is, strolls with the client around the office building. During these walks we obtain the information we need on what else could be streamlined and what amenities could be introduced,” explains Magdalena Kowalewska.

Trying it for themselves

In order to find out what a client feels who is modernising its offices or changing its location,

Colliers International has decided to go through this process itself. The consultancy, which is a tenant of the Metropolitan building in Warsaw, is in the process of redeveloping its premises, which will be designed according to an individual concept drawn up after consultations with employees. “We involved our employees in the modernisation of the offices. We sent them a questionnaire detailing how the appearance of the office and its design could be influenced. Before we started working on the project we measured the percentage of the utilisation of our office: the desks, conference rooms and the common areas. In addition, we established work teams including the representatives of individual departments, who contributed a great deal to the development of the project,” emphasises Monika Rajska-Wolińska, a managing partner at Colliers International in Poland. The company did not opt for the introduction of the ‘hot desk’ model for its offices. The area is designed according to the ‘flexible workplace’ concept. “We adapted the concept to our employees’ requirements. The research clearly showed that people want to be in these offices, they appreciate the contact with other colleagues and they appreciate their surroundings in their everyday activities. This is why at the concept stage we strove for the creation of a friendly and open area that is only divided by natural barriers. The area was designed for each specific department. The type of work is different in the book-keeping department and different again for the brokerage team. In order to minimise high concentrations of noise, we created separate rooms resembling phone boxes. Now the company’s partners have one common room that encourages internal communication. The personnel will be equipped with laptops, thanks to which, subject to their needs at that moment, they will be able to work in various parts of the office,” the head of the Polish branch of Colliers says of the new design. The refurbished office also includes many more conference rooms for two to five people, after the research into space utilisation revealed shortages in this respect.

The employees themselves have taken on the designing of offices – each team will design its room to fit the character of its activities. Rooms resembling a shop or a warehouse have been designed, covered by a reservation system developed by one of Colliers’ IT specialists. Furthermore, there will be relaxation rooms, which will include table football, sofas and massage armchairs. A fully furnished, spacious kitchen is already in operation. There will also be an internal, home-style café, where clients will be able to wait for their meetings. “We decided to undergo this process to personally find out what it entails. The renovation of the offices was an invaluable experience for us. Thanks to this we will be able to tell our clients and the pros and cons as well as the difficulties they might face when implementing the ‘flexible workspace’ concept. And there are quite a few of these. Designing a new area is a long process, usually taking around. 1.5 years. It also involves entering arrangements with employees and reconciling conflicting interests. It is important for ‘flexible workspace’ not to copy western firms’ ideas, but to specifically tailor the office to your own needs,” adds Monika Rajska-Wolińska.

The Provident approach

Loan company Provident, which occupies two floors – an area of over 4,000 sqm – in the Gdański Business Centre in Warsaw, has given its offices an interesting interior design. Its new head office has been in operation since July, when it moved from its previous location

in the International Business Center in another part of the city.

“The project started in January 2013. It was initiated by research into space utilisation in our previous premises, which thus established our needs in terms of the new location. The research took two weeks. The type of work carried out by each different group of employees was taken into consideration in all of this. Another stage involved a survey of all our personnel. Out of all those sent, 70 pct were completed – around 360 in total. The process also involved setting up a workshop including the management board and the managers of the largest teams. There were also workshops for employees at the various levels of the company,” emphasises Radosław Wierzchowski, the director of the wealth management department at Provident. What was decisive factor? When choosing the right office we looked at many different factors. The decision was made at our international headquarters, but the recommendation originated from the Polish branch and was accepted by the group. The new offices had to have good transport links. We looked at the access by the various means of transport: public transport, car and bicycle. We inquired about the parking facilities – we have a fleet of 140 cars and needed that many parking spaces in the building so that our staff did not have to look for them outside. We were only interested in class ‘A’, certified buildings as the minimum standard. Furthermore, we planned an efficient layout of the space that allowed a great deal of flexibility in terms of interior design,” says Radosław Wierzchowski. The team prepared itself well for the relocation by drawing its conclusions from the survey, which became the key for designing the new interiors. “We are open to employees’ needs. The space in our previous offices mirrored the hierarchical structure of the company very much. Management board members, senior and junior managers, had their own rooms, which made relations between the whole team difficult and did not support our business processes, while at the same time consuming a lot of space. There were dead zones, which were completely unused. We wanted the new office to be alive, to have some sparkle and energy. We had too few conference rooms and at the same time they were too big – such as the reception area, which did not reflect the character of the firm. There was also a shortage of communal and networking zones where employees could meet and talk in an informal manner,” adds Radosław Wierzchowski.

Provident responded to these suggestions by introducing zonal space design – a kind of open space where individual teams are separated by natural barriers – such as conference rooms, partition walls and furniture. “We did not like the large hall conception of open space where teams mix, the level of noise increases and functioning in such an area becomes tiresome. Zonal space unites people in individual departments, but at the same time separates them from others. We rejected the idea of separate rooms. Even board members have their desks next to their departments. So we created 29 meeting rooms. Now they are smaller and more adjusted to our needs. There are more three-to-four people rooms. There are also a few twelve-people rooms, which can be combined together. We have twelve special items of acoustic furniture which absorb sound better. They are sound-proof and include a table, so it is possible to have a quiet conversation – they have been designed especially for us with our participation. We have also invested in the sound-proofing of the entire office with special ceiling slabs, partition screens, acoustic panels and a wall-to-wall carpet,” reveals Radosław Wierzchowski. Now every employee of Provident has their own desk. “We are testing out solutions that unchain employees from their desks: flexible hours, home office and off-site work. All of this results from our research: we obtained precise information on how many offices are used and for how long. This allowed us to reduce the area and move managers from their offices to the zonal space. Their desks were sometimes empty for 70 pct of the day,” emphasises Radosław Wierzchowski. Today the workforce is a happy one. “There is a very good Wi-Fi connection throughout the entire office. Moreover, the conference rooms have a reservation system connected with Outlook, which makes it possible to reserve a specific room for a meeting easily and quickly. Employees have access to high quality audio and video equipment. They can focus in special rooms for quiet work. The kitchen and the network zone, which have been combined, offer an area where all the employees of the office can gather for general meetings. We also have good quality LED lighting and roller-blinds for bright sunshine,” he explains. Furthermore, the staff (the ‘design crew’) have selected the colour scheme for the walls and the design of the space. “We have even saved money by moving here. The ecological solutions applied in the building are proving to be effective – the facility uses less electricity, which translates into lower operating costs. The plot is owned by the investor, which also lowers the operating fee significantly,” remarks Radosław Wierzchowski. Provident is not the only company blazing the trail in this regard by offering its employees the chance to work in an area they can design themselves. Such an approach has also been taken up by companies in the real estate field, such as Skanska and CBRE, as well as Grupa Saint-Gobain and

Jerónimo Martins. ν