Fitting Suites
Dr Nigel Oseland is a Chartered (Environmental) Psychologist whose speciality is workplace strategy, design briefing, change management, research, and post-occupancy evaluation. He is a global leader in this field and presented at a CoreNet Global event last week. It was a great event and got everyone thinking deeper about the design of offices.
During his presentation he mentioned architectural determinism. Our interpretation of this is “build it and they will come” and automatically it got us thinking about the most familiar example of architectural determinism in the “office world”; Spec fitouts.
Anyone involved in the CRE office markets is bombarding or being bombarded with spec fitouts. There are some excellent ones and some real shockers. The best thing is they have improved immensely over time.
But how fitting are fitted suites? It’s like buying packaged sliced white bread at the supermarket. Cheap and easy. But if you make the journey to the bakery, you can buy your preferred loaf, and slice it how you want. The answer should be about creating a suite that fits – not a fitted suite. They are not the same.
Of course there are arguments that its what the lessees want. Valid point but many forgot to ask the Lessees. Not that long ago, there wasn’t much choice so one had to make do with limited choice. Now there is lots of choice. Paraphrasing Steve Jobs, “You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the (space) — not the other way around.”
The issue for the Lessees is that spec suites have been designed without any consideration of the end or actual user’s real needs. In effect the Lessee is leasing someone else’s fitout.
Fitted suites may save you time but they don’t save your culture or company. Nothing is ever as it seems and in the end, it may cost you more than you think.
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