flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

CBRE's bold experiment: 200-person office with no assigned desks [slideshow]

CBRE's bold experiment: 200-person office with no assigned desks [slideshow]

In an effort to reduce rent costs, the international real estate brokerage firm created its first completely "untethered" office in Los Angeles, where assigned desks and offices are replaced with flexible workspaces. 


By BD+C Staff | October 31, 2013

The idea of shared workspaces is not new. Corporations and institutions have employed "hoteling" concepts for decades.

What's new is the scale of these projects. Large corporations like GlaxoSmithKline and CBRE are implementing "first come first serve"-type workplace concepts across entire floors and buildings—all in an effort to use their space more effectively and, in CBRE's case, reduce rent costs.

The LA Times yesterday reported on CBRE's new 200-person headquarters in Los Angeles, which occupies the top two floors of the 26-story 400 South Hope tower. All 200 occupants, from the executives to the brokers to the admin. staff, work in a completely "untethered" atmosphere, where assigned desks and offices are replaced with a variety flexible workspaces (traditional workstations, small private rooms, conference rooms, lobby space, etc.). The office is designed to encourage interaction and collaboration, with large common areas and collaboration "neighborhoods" (clusters of workstations).

LA Times' Roger Vincent writes:  

"Desktop computers were replaced with laptops that can be stored in lockers in the new office. Upon arriving, employees collect their telephone headsets, laptops and key files. They then head to one of 10 "neighborhoods" where employees doing similar tasks such as legal work or property management cluster. Or they can set up in the heart of the office near the front door that looks like a cross between an upscale hotel lobby and a coffee bar.

Workstations have telephones, keyboards and monitors that employees plug into, and they can sit, stand or even walk on a treadmill while they work. There are media-equipped conference rooms for meetings and small booths for making private phone calls."

Read the full LA Times article.

 

Related Stories

| May 18, 2011

Eco-friendly San Antonio school combines history and sustainability

The 113,000-sf Rolling Meadows Elementary School in San Antonio is the Judson Independent School District’s first sustainable facility, with green features such as vented roofs for rainwater collection and regionally sourced materials.

| May 18, 2011

New Reform Jewish Independent school opens outside Boston

The Rashi School, one of only 17 Reform Jewish independent schools in North American and Israel, opened a new $30 million facility on a 166-acre campus shared with the Hebrew SeniorLife community on the Charles River in Dedham, Mass.

| May 18, 2011

Design diversity celebrated at Orange County club

The Orange County, Calif., firm NKDDI designed the 22,000-sf Luna Lounge & Nightclub in Pomona, Calif., to be a high-end multipurpose event space that can transition from restaurant to lounge to nightclub to music venue.

| May 18, 2011

Lab personnel find comfort in former Winchester gun factory

The former Winchester Repeating Arms Factory in New Haven, Conn., is the new home of PepsiCo’s Biology Innovation Research Laboratory.

| May 18, 2011

Addition provides new school for pre-K and special-needs kids outside Chicago

Perkins+Will, Chicago, designed the Early Learning Center, a $9 million, 37,000-sf addition to Barrington Middle School in Barrington, Ill., to create an easily accessible and safe learning environment for pre-kindergarten and special-needs students.

| May 18, 2011

Raphael Viñoly’s serpentine-shaped building snakes up San Francisco hillside

The hillside location for the Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine building at the University of California, San Francisco, presented a challenge to the Building Team of Raphael Viñoly, SmithGroup, DPR Construction, and Forell/Elsesser Engineers. The 660-foot-long serpentine-shaped building sits on a structural framework 40 to 70 feet off the ground to accommodate the hillside’s steep 60-degree slope.

| May 18, 2011

New center provides home to medical specialties

Construction has begun on the 150,000-sf Medical Arts Pavilion at the University Medical Center in Princeton, N.J.

| May 18, 2011

Improvements add to Detroit convention center’s appeal

Interior and exterior renovations and updates will make the Detroit Cobo Center more appealing to conventioneers. A new 40,000-sf ballroom will take advantage of the center’s riverfront location, with views of the river and downtown.

| May 18, 2011

One of Delaware’s largest high schools seeks LEED for Schools designation

The $82 million, 280,000-sf Dover (Del.) High School will have capacity for 1,800 students and feature a 900-seat theater, a 2,500-seat gymnasium, and a 5,000-seat football stadium.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category




halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021