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Workplace Survey
The Office Now, as Seen from Layout Data (Part 1)
November 10 ,2021
Okamura has continued to collect basic layout data for well-designed offices (companies that qualify for the Nikkei New Office Award*), which provide benchmarks for office design. In this issue, we introduce data that we can reference when setting benchmarks for office design, such as how much space should be allotted per employee, or how many meeting rooms are necessary.
* Nikkei New Office Award
This award is sponsored by Nikkei Inc. and the New Office Promotion Association (NOPA), and is presented to creatively and innovatively designed offices that serve as good examples for the future.
In Okamura's survey, when classifying the overall office, we break down offices into spaces by areas (1) delineated by walls. Furthermore, among these, working areas are broken down into spatial units (2) according to the type, use and layout of the installed furniture. This classification has been created based on “The Official Guide to Facility Management” (2018), edited by the FM Promotion Liaison Council.
The figures for each year shown in the text are averages calculated by measuring the layout for the last 4 years, including the data for that year. For example, figures for 2020 represent the average figures of 169 properties collected between 2017 and 2020. In addition, the number of employed people used to calculate the area per person is based on the number of chairs in the working area that is assumed to be used for desk work, and does not include the number of communal chairs such as those in meeting spaces.
POINT 01 Changes in Area Per Person
When considering the spatial composition of an office, it is important to understand how the company is at that point. First, let's look at the area per person, which is the area divided by the number of The area per person allocated in an office also varies greatly depending on conditions such as the industry to which the tenant company belongs, the location of the office building and the form of employees.
In Figure 2, we can see that the area per person had been trending downward, but in recent years, there has been an uptick in the working area allotted per person. One possible factor is the increase in the number of offices that support ABW. Layouts tend to be intricate in such offices, resulting in a larger area per person.
POINT 02 Differences by Industry, Location,and Form of Ownership
The area per person allocated in an office also varies greatly depending on conditions such as the industry to which the tenant company belongs, the location of the office building and the form of ownership.
For example, when comparing the area per person of a rented building vs a company-owned building, there is little difference in the working area itself, but the difference in the office as a whole can reach 5 m2/person (Fig. 3).
When planning offices, the type of industry, location, and form of ownership should be kept in mind when selecting benchmarks.
POINT 03 Spread of Offices Compatible with ABW
In this survey, we found that about 20% of offices were compatible with ABW. Looking at the changes over time, we can see that the transition has gained momentum since 2017, when reforms regarding working styles began to attract attention (Fig. 4).
This movement is expected to accelerate further as hybrid work styles combining remote and in office work become more common post-COVID, and the office may look very different from the way it has done up till now, with rows of desks and chairs. ABW has various advantages* such as improved selfperceived performance, reduced health risks, improved work engagement, and it is expected to raise corporate productivity.
*Source: WORK MILL RESEARCH ISSUE 01 / Okamura / 2019
This article was reprinted from the KNOWLEDGE WORK DESIGN REVIEW by Okamura.
In Part 2, you will find information on "standard desks and storage capacity" and "standard number of meeting places".
Research: Mitsuru Makishima、Ryo Akinaga（Okamura）
Edit: Nanako Ono、Ayano Yoshida
Illustration & Infographic: Shinji Hamana、Hana Fujii（Beach）
Production: Plus81 inc.
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