By Adam Wakefield

“Machines for working”

Callie van der Merwe, CEO of strategy, design and build agency, Design Partnership, says different workspaces have different requirements. However, all are tailored as “machines for workings”.

“The core requirements of all are around maximum conversion to basket or sale. This is as important in a bank as it is in a retail store or restaurant. Banks sell products just as much as retail stores sells goods or restaurants sell food,” he says.

While the differences between various brands are marginal, Van Der Merwe says most boil down to perception. For example, the real difference between two different burgers is not so much the product but rather how the brand is positioned and the perception created through marketing and store design.

In his view, the product is the “passport factor”, while everything else is about the perception created through “retailising” a space and how the design of that space makes people feel. The question is; is there a link between a tailored work space and increased business performance?

“Our entire business is engineered around this premise and we have many examples to refer to. In fact, we were so sure of the impact of our thinking that we have gambled our fees on increased store performance post our intervention in the past,” Van Der Merwe says, citing work Design Partnership did for Incredible Connection. 

A large percentage of their fees were based on increased performance of a newly positioned design, based on a minimum percentage return over a fixed period. 

“The client paid the bonus with a smile,” Van Der Merwe says. 

Embrace differences and flexibility

When it comes to office space, while it is slightly different, it relies on the same psychology, Van Der Merwe says.

“Although an office space does not sell a product, it also sells a quality of experience and thus needs a certain quality of space. Less (drywall) is more. Open is better. No more big offices. It's all about transparency, collaboration, touch down space and connectivity,” he says.

“With different functions and performance needed, one size does not fit all. Flexi-space, flexi-time and flexi-relationships are key.” 

According to Adam Alter, author of Drunk Tank Pink: And Other Unexpected Forces That Shape How We Think, Feel, and Behave, key features of collaborative office spaces include an open plan and “thinking” areas where employees can do their thinking in the presence of others.

Creative agency CREACHA is a such place where these concepts are embraced. Managing director Erica Kornau-Van Niekerk says their office, designed by themselves, is purposed on “connecting people”, as their employees regularly spend eight hour-plus days working together. 

“We designed a space that is a natural extension of who we are as CREACHA. What better way to do it than through a colourful, open plan space,” she says.

The setting allows them to engage with each other, take time out through a game, “or flop into a beanbag for a pensive moment on #OurTurf, away from the hubbub of the studio”.

A space to both work and welcome

Beyond being a part of who works there, CREACHA’s office immerses clients and other guests in the agency’s atmosphere the moment they walk through the door.

“We often get comments about the ‘great energy’ and people seem to feel instantly comfortable here,” says Kornau-Van Niekerk. 

The agency has gradually taken over all the commercial property in an “unsuspecting old building” on their street in Northcliff, Johannesburg, evolving a building that used to house an appliance repair shop, bakery and kickboxing studio.

“The most striking feature of the CREACHA offices are the free-spirited wall vinyls that capture the essence of ‘creatively changing the world’ – our mission. Typography and illustrations strike a good balance between literally communicating messages and leaving the imagination to fill in the gaps.”

Do you believe the workspace is linked to company performance? Let us know in the comments below.