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Flow Commerce Office

Nineteen people, 308 m², communication kept intact

Flow Commerce Office, office design study
Area
308 m²
People
19 people
Focus
Efficiency
Status
Design study · not built

ProgrammeReception · open office · executive office · meeting room · open kitchen and social area · support and storage

Flow Commerce Office is a design study I prepared for my portfolio; it is not a built client project. It was conceived for a type of online retail team: eighteen employees and one manager in 308 m².

It has the least floor area per person of the three studies, which makes its question the sharpest: as density rises, can distinct spaces be created without breaking communication?

Virtual tour · 9 spaces · 18 hotspots

Walk through the office first, then read the decisions.

The question

The open office's strength, the open office's problem

An open office makes communication easy, but leaves no distinct place for meetings, focus or private conversation. Privacy also had to be provided without breaking the visual connection between the manager and the team.

Open office, workstations and a planted shelf divider
Desks beneath the terracotta ceiling
Open office, workstations and a planted shelf divider · Desks beneath the terracotta ceiling
Decision

I designed the reception as a threshold

The entrance is more than a reception desk. A curved counter and a branded wall form a corporate threshold before one steps into the workspace.

Reception: curved counter and branded wall
Curved reception counter, vertical view
Reception: curved counter and branded wall · Curved reception counter, vertical view
Decision

I separated the social area with a planted shelf

The seating area is separated from the desks by a shelf divider filled with plants. The separation is not as absolute as a wall; the two uses see each other without mixing.

The terracotta ceiling runs uninterrupted over all of these areas. The ceiling holds the divided space together.

Both sides of the planted shelf divider: seating area and desks
Seating area and shelf divider under the terracotta ceiling
Both sides of the planted shelf divider: seating area and desks · Seating area and shelf divider under the terracotta ceiling
Decision

I moved meetings into an enclosed unit

Meetings were given an enclosed unit, separated from the open office.

Enclosed meeting room
Enclosed meeting room
What I chose not to do

I did not cut the manager off from the team

The executive office is separate, but not a closed box: the workspace can be read through a bronze glass partition. The virtual tour shows this best, looking from the executive office towards the team.

The programme also included a workshop room. It was not designed in this study; only its place was reserved in the plan.

Executive office: desk and seating corner
Executive desk
Executive desk and lit shelving
Executive office: desk and seating corner · Executive desk · Executive desk and lit shelving

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