Peoples’ perspective
Rather than collecting perfect “after shots” from design portfolios,
I wanted to see how environments operate long after the designers and architects have left.
What works, what doesn’t? How do people really use the spaces? I wanted to see these places warts and all, rather than in that polished, untouched state just after move-in day. Some places I visited were brand new, some were very much lived in. Most of the clever things I saw were conceived and/or built by people from within businesses themselves.
A common thread throughout every company I featured was that they were clear on three things:
1) Who they are
2) What makes them different (their culture, internal brand, how they do what they do)
3) What their people need to do their job well.
I found that despite the businesses, cultures and brands being vastly different, commonalities exist in the types of spaces that they provide to support and reinforce the right activities and behaviours for innovation.