Assignment Brief Design a Workplace Assignment Brief Workplace briefing is the term applied to the process of gathering key client/user information and requirements, which are then used to inform any of the following outcomes:
- an overall property or estate strategy,
- the design of a new building (including location, size, facilities etc.) or
- a specific new workspace (perhaps as part of a refurbishment or implementation of new ways of working).
It is a recognized part of the formal RIBA design process – Stages 0 and 1 of the Plan of Work. The rationale for such briefing is simple: without it the resultant workplace can fail to meet the expectations and needs of the occupants and occupying organisation – and may not be fit-for-purpose. It may also overlook desired aspirations or be unable to provide the flexibility for the future-proofing of the new workplace.
The workplace brief includes components such as the vision of the organisation, cultural analysis, occupancy analysis, workplace strategy, space requirements, cost-benefit analysis (business case), environmental conditions, branding, zoning, required work-settings, indicative space planning etc.
Your assignment is to provide a detailed workplace brief (including elements of the workplace strategy, cost-benefit analysis, interior design guidelines and indicative space planning) for the following theoretical organisation:
- The IT support department for a large institution, with a mix of back-office support and client facing teams (referred to as the IT Department of Institution Z).
- A current headcount of 120 staff increasing to 170 over the next few years, but beyond that the overall headcount is unclear.
- The staff are currently based in several buildings, all of which have lease breaks coming up.
- A leased office of approx. 600 m2 has been identified as a suitable space (see attached space plan).
- One-third of the staff are highly mobile attending meetings and working off-site; another third of office-based but attend meetings (in and outside the office); the remainder are fairly mobile. Twenty staff operate the “help desk” contact-centre and there are four team managers each with a PA.
- There are four main teams within the IT support department. The 20 contact-centre are desk-based, manning the phones, with an overall desk utilisation of 90%; this team is likely to grow by 30%. There are 40 developers are mostly desk based when in the office but occasionally work from home or are in team meetings, with a desk utilisation of 65%; they are likely to grow by 20% over the next five years. The 30 staff in the build team are mostly office-based but spend much of their time in the build room/lab (with 20 seats/benches), with a main office desk utilisation of 50%; they will also grow by 10%. The final team are the 30 project managers who spend most of their time with customers at their sites or in project meetings with colleagues and/or customers, their utilisation is low at 30%; they are projected to grow by up to 70% over five years.
- Customers and suppliers regularly visit the office, and the staff are trained on-site.
- Staff conduct a mix of collaborative and creative work, along with work requiring focus and concentration.
- The department head wants to integrate the staff into a new joined-up culture and improve overall efficiency and effectiveness. They also want to attract fresh graduates with new IT skills.
- The institute has a strong sustainability and wellbeing policy.
- A limited budget has been set aside for the move, including funds for design, furniture, IT and change management. They will re-use furniture and IT and the new space is in good condition and ready for the CAT B fit-out. The CAT B fit-out is estimated to be £60/sqft.
- The current lease, rates and serviced charge totals £80/sqft per annum, the FM and utilities costs are just £5/sqft/annum, but the building requires a new air-conditioning system estimated to cost £0.5M of which the landlord will pay half. The new space is better quality with ease, rates and serviced charge totals £85/sqft per annum, the FM and utilities costs at £10/sqft/annum. However, the landlord is offering 1 year rent-free in he new building.
- (Make any further assumptions clear in your report – create a separate short section titled “assumptions”.)
Assignment Brief Design a Workplace References
Eley J & Marmot A (1995) Understanding Offices: What Every Manager Needs to Know About Office Buildings. London: Penguin.
Gillen N, Harris R, Allen T and Bell A (2015) Workplace Briefing – An Overview. London: Workplace Change Organisation.
Kampschroer K, Heerwagen J & Powell K (2007) Creating and testing workplace strategy. California Management Review, 49(2).
Savage A E (2005) Workplace strategy: What it is and why you should care. Journal of Corporate Real Estate, 7(3).
Springer T (2011) Fundamentals of Workplace Strategy. Jasper, IN: Kimball Office.
Word Limit: 2,500 words (max)
