Giving the office a workout

Annie Dow

Here are today's business new-isms: The workplace is the new corporate brand, the office is the new home and "cognitive ergonomics" is the new creativity.

Design consultant Annie Dow says there is increasing recognition that a company's office is a powerful reflection of its brand.

Her own business, Dow Design, is a study in fit-out-as-branding. Its Newton office is wall-to-wall style complete with designer art, a fireplace and a central courtyard.

"A haven off K Road," Dow calls it.

"Offices, in a way, are becoming more like homes. People who come into this environment often say it would be a great place to live and I say: 'Well, we do. We're here every day."'

Dow has recorded her thoughts on office branding in a report, Creativity at Work, which explores "10 fresh ways to think about creativity within organisations".

Dow points to a study last year for the British Department of Trade and Industry which found creative business environments offered economic benefits by boosting performance.

"It's being backed by bean counters now," says Dow. "If you've got the accountants waking up to this, it says a lot. It's not just being driven by creative people."

Vodafone's new Auckland HQ is an example of a company effectively portraying its brand through its building.

"More corporates are starting to think about how their brand looks, what they stand for and how they can build that into everything they are," Dow says.

"[In commercial architecture] there is more attention to detail now and emphasis on creativity and innovation.

"That flows right through to the office fit-out of furniture, the tone and manner of printed materials, giving a consistent image about who you are so that there's clarity of your idea as a brand."

And here's more good news for creative types: The clear desk policy is out.

"There is a new discipline called cognitive ergonomics: Helping companies maximise their intellectual assets, by creating environments that help people think," says the Dow report.

"The theory is that making people's stuff disappear is a big mistake - the entire scope of your work needs to be exposed, creating an arrangement that resembles your brain."

Dow says the advantage of working in an office is having other people around to bounce ideas off.

"Having a bit of clutter around you, a bit of stimulus, helps."

* A free copy of Dow Design's Creativity at Work report can be ordered through the company's website link below.


Relaxed but stimulating

Seasoned advertising man David Walden thinks "cognitive ergonomics" is a bit pompous but he agrees a stimulating office adds to a company's brand.

Walden is chief executive of Whybin\TBWA, recently judged one of the country's top 10 small workplaces for the second year in a row by Unlimited magazine.

The agency is based in the old Public Trust Office on Auckland's Mayoral Drive.

"I think if you've got a lot of money a modern, contemporary workplace would be fantastic," says Walden. "But unless you've got the opportunity to create something from scratch that you can use, I think an old building certainly has more appeal for me.

"Our clients like coming in here because it's a relaxed environment and yet we get on with it.

"When you're sitting in our reception there are people wandering past and you can see through into parts of the agency. You get a sense of being part of something rather than sitting in a sanitised reception area waiting to be taken into a sanitised meeting room to meet some interesting people."

On the issue of whether a bit of desk clutter helps creativity, Walden admits he's never adhered to a clear-desk policy. "I'm a piles-in-the-corner man. You need some order out of the chaos but we're not anal about telling people their desks have to be clear ..."