The History of Office Design

The way we work in 2022 has evolved beyond any conceivable recognition to the workplace 50 years ago. The office of today is no longer a building where everyone congregates, but also our homes, the local coffee shop, and numerous other “third places” brought together in virtual meeting places. So where does the history of office design begin? It’s perhaps useful to retrace our steps to the very first office.

The First Office

There is evidence to suggest that the first offices originated in ancient Rome as spaces where official work was conducted and that similar spaces existed in some form throughout the ages. However, it wasn’t until the 18^th Century that dedicated office buildings began to be created.

With the British Empire expanding and engaging in an increasing level of trade with other parts of the empire (and world), the first office building was built in 1726 in London and became known as The Old Admiralty Office. It served to handle the masses of the paperwork generated by the Royal Navy and included meeting spaces and the Admiralty Board Room, which is still used today.

This was followed swiftly in 1729 by the construction of East India House on Leadenhall Street in London, which acted as the HQ for East India Trading Company and its legions of workers. By now, the advent of a centralised concentrated space to administer increasing amounts of paperwork had gained traction, with new offices popping up throughout London.

Indeed, the design of these ‘new’ office buildings warranted a mention in a UK government report on office space layouts which said:

Taylorism and the rise of the open-plan office

The earliest modern offices were remarkable for their scientific approach and emphasised efficiency and the adoption of a rigid, regimented office layout that resulted in workers sitting at endless rows of desks with managers located in encircling offices where they could observe.

These early, open plan offices which grew in popularity throughout the early 20^th Century, followed the principles of ‘Taylorism’, a methodology created by mechanical engineer, Frank Taylor, who sought to maximise industrial efficiency. There has been much criticism of Taylor’s approach, as it failed to take into consideration human and social elements and focused exclusively on ensuring employers gained maximum productivity from their staff.

At the same time, large skyscrapers designed to accommodate numerous companies and their staff had begun to appear in cities across the USA, and in some parts of the UK. This new architectural phenomenon was made possible by the invention of electric lighting, air conditioning systems and also the telegraph system which meant that offices no longer had to be situated beside factories.

However, it was the birth of the lift and of steel frame construction, that ushered in a radically new way of working and consequently heralded the growth of office design as a discipline, and so the history of office design entered a new period.

The evolution of open-plan working

As skyscrapers and other large commercial buildings were developed, the workplace altered to become a spacious space where there was a mix of private offices and open plan workstations, complete with typewriters, and in some cases a dedicated staff kitchen or canteen.

This evolution was embodied by the opening of The Johnson Wax company’s open-plan office, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1939. This office was primarily designed to increase productivity, and as such placed over 200 sales staff on one floor, but also included completely new elements such as bright lights, warm spaces and cork ceilings, which played a major role in absorbing office acoustics.

Just as office design has begun to emerge as a real tangible concern with many larger companies now aspiring towards offices that reflected their perceived corporate image, mostly centred around strength and masculinity, the great depression and then World War II applied the brakes.

After this enforced hiatus, a new approach known as Burolandschaft became to be adopted.

Burolandschaft

In the early 1960s, the workplace really started to change with the adoption of a more socially democratic layout which consequently encouraged a great degree of human interaction and engagement.

This office design style became known as Burolandschaft, an originally German concept, which translates to ‘office landscape’, and after becoming popular in northern Europe, began to spread around the world.

Burolanschaft advocated a less rigid approach to office layouts and placed far more importance on meeting the needs of the workforce. As a result, the workplace became a more open space with desks and teams grouped together, in a less scientific manner than Taylorism, with plants rather than partitions creating organic boundaries.

Subsequently, the workplace became a far more social affair with collaboration between teams, now placed beside each other, taking place on a much more regular basis. Based on this progressive model, staff of different managerial levels began to sit and work together, and as such, Burolandschaft is often referenced in relation to the principles of modern office design.

The Action Office

As Burolandschaft evolved, a new approach that became known as the Action Office began to emerge. This model differed from Burolandschaft in that it included a variety of alternative work settings for staff, increased freedom of movement and a greater degree of privacy when working.

The influence on office design was twofold with increased space required for rows of modular furniture that provided staff with privacy and flexibility to work in a position suitable for the task at hand. While there was an increased emphasis placed on meeting rooms, an individual’s workstation became larger and more enclosed, and though it did provide plenty of space to work, it did lead to less interaction as staff became less visible to each other.

The influx of female workers into what was traditionally a male-dominated workplace in the 1960s also led to subtle changes in how the workplace was designed. The office now required a greater level of privacy, and many female workers now demanded a ‘modesty board’, which was simply a plywood section that covered the front of a desk, and critically their legs. In fact, the Observer ran an article entitled ‘Would you let your daughter work in an open plan office?’ as lately as 1968.

Over time, the Action Office concept evolved to a point where employees each had their own high, a three-sided vertical division that defined their individual space, and which they had the autonomy to personalise. This should sound somewhat familiar as it is frequently credited with the rise of the often-ridiculed cubicle farm workplaces in the 1980s.

The Cubicle Farm

The availability of cheap, but effective modular walls alongside an increased focus on profitability at the expense of working conditions are seen as the key factors behind the complete shift in office design, suffered throughout the 1980s.

The history of office design at this point digressed and became a ‘stack them highly; sell them cheap’ model, and entered what is now widely acknowledged as one of the more depressive (if not, the most) periods since it had emerged as a discipline.

Robert Prost, who is widely associated with the development of the Action Office model is quoted as stating that:

not all organisations are intelligent and progressive. Lots are run by crass people who can take the same kind of equipment and create hellholes. They make little bitty cubicles and stuff people in them. Barren, rat-hole places

In fact, Douglas Ball, a designer for leading furniture company Haworth, who developed one of Action Office’s more popular designs had initially been excited but emerged from a completed space utterly depressed.

I went to see the first installation of the system, a huge government project. The panels were all seventy inches tall, so unless you were six-foot-three you couldn’t look over the top. It was awful – one of the worst installations I’d ever seen

By then, the damage had been done and so followed almost two decades of staff ‘trapped’ in giant fabric-wrapped walls. It took the advent of technology in the workplace to force companies to look at office design in a more holistic, human-centred manner. So, where next for the history of office design?

Office Design and Technology

As technology developed, workers became more mobile and ushered in a golden period for office design where new, more flexible ways of working such as Agile Working and Activity Based Working (ABW) became increasingly popular.

As staff became more mobile, it became evident that they could work anywhere and were no longer wed to their desk. It became normal to see people working in cafes, coffee shops and from home, as companies began to adopt these new ways of working. As mobility became the norm, office design began to embrace ‘hot desking’ where staff weren’t allocated space, but rather picked an available space to work from.

The rise of technology enterprises also led to the creation of new office design norms, with cooler, hipper companies desiring funky, colourful offices that included a variety of spaces that staff could choose to work from, and so signalled the birth of the break out space in the modern workplace.

It also became critical that technology could be used from any part of the workplace and where possible that it integrated seamlessly with furniture and other devices such as screens and digital whiteboards. A sense of fun was also instilled with the addition of leisure areas and creative spaces with pinball machines, beanbags, table tennis tables and dartboards.

Evolving Office Design

The landscape of office design is undergoing continuous transformation. Modern offices are increasingly taking cues from the comfort and style of home environments, as well as third places like hotels, coffee shops, and wine bars. This approach is turning workspaces into more engaging and inviting areas. The move towards warmer colour schemes, inviting lighting, and comfortable seating is a clear indication of this trend. Such changes are driven by a deeper focus on employee comfort and overall well-being, acknowledging the significant role of the workplace in drawing and keeping the best talent in a highly competitive job market. This evolution in office design not only enhances the aesthetic appeal of the workplace but also strategically aligns with the goals of employee satisfaction and retention.

The integration of cutting-edge technology has also blurred the lines between office and home environments. This fusion has created a new kind of workspace, starkly different from what was familiar just a few years ago. Additionally, the advent of smart buildings and offices is catalysing this change, paving the way for flexible and transient working models. These advancements are reshaping our understanding of the workplace, emphasising adaptability and employee-centric design.

While trends tend to come and go, there has been a significant rise in biophilic office design and companies bringing a little of the outdoors into the work environment. This is achieved through the addition of fresh shrubbery, increased access to natural light and air, and in some cases the installation of living walls as a feature.

As the history of office design continues to be written, we are also witnessing a rise in co-working, with companies working in shared spaces, facilitated by companies like WeWork and Regus. This flexible arrangement has proved attractive to many with co-working spaces now dotted throughout all major cities in not only the UK but in Europe and the US too.

Office furniture has also had to keep pace with office design and the popularity of workplace wellbeing, and as a result, we have seen sit-stand desks become an integral part of many offices. Many of the larger manufacturers have also created and marketed their products as ergonomically friendly which is again, a major concern for many companies.

The Future of Office Design

Without a crystal ball, it is difficult to predict which direction the history of office design will take but we have tried in our ‘The Future Workplace’ Guide, which you can read by clicking here.