Innovation spaces; what are they and why they work

The workplace is no longer a straightforward place to just do your job. The global demand for workspaces to offer much more has never been as high and widespread. Architects and designers are no longer asked to just create proper workspaces,  their goals are also to create communities, facilitate collaboration and make chance encounters happen. Through their designs, the architects together with business leaders are reshuffling the way organisations are being structured and how interactions work.

“We always try and create human environments that are inviting and familiar, to create feelings of comfort and confidence, and to make working pleasurable. The environments we create will influence the way people behave.”

— Sevil Peach, architect (projects: Spaces, vitra, kvadrat, Microsoft).

The spaces that take these visions into account are called innovation spaces. These innovation spaces  are the physical manifestations of economic, demographic and cultural prosperity. With the fading of traditional lines, the changing nature of innovation is transforming spaces into open, flexible places where different kinds of professionals from all sectors come together. The demand for designs are that they have to be more comfortable, social and collaborative with technology. The “open” and collaborative nature of innovation is changing the nature of design.

“Collaboration also importantly underpins “open innovation” and convergence—a trend where disparate sectors and/or disciplines come together as a means to innovate. For the physical design of space, this translates into creating flexible and highly responsive spaces that allow people, in a range of group configurations, to decide what works.”

source: Innovation Spaces: The New Design of Work

Collaboration is increasingly central to driving innovation forward. Even though has enabled many forms of communication, there’s still high value in face-to-face communication. The workspaces who understand this, this human factor, ensure that there are interactive, sharable areas. The last 10 years marked a tremendous infusion of technologies into innovation spaces, literally re-wiring how, where and when people connect and communicate.

Not only is human interaction and face-to-face communication valuable to drive innovation through collaboration, it is also a great way to relieve stress. Having someone to talk with instead of being solo all day, can aide in the way you review your day. Find moments to strike up a conversation, while waiting for your cappuccino at our Café Deli, or seek out your community manager; less stress is just a chit-chat away.