Contact an A+D consultant in your area to learn more about, or schedule a CEU presentation.
There are many distractions in the workplace that affect productivity. Surveys indicate that noise tops that list, and it's a very subjective issue; meaning that managing expectations is just as important as implementing an appropriate solution. This presentation is an opportunity to share some of what we have learned from our projects that can help improve the acoustical environments. By reviewing the basics of sound control, you will learn about the options available to minimize distracting noise, and improve the overall acoustical quality of the space.
This is the first course in a series of the Evidence-based Education Design Curriculum. At a basic level the major issues for designing instructional settings will be addressed. They are: why does space matter; what’s wrong; what changed; why now; why do we need to understand what behaviors are desirable; what does a harder working instructional setting look like; how do we design for it; when does change happen? Questions use EBD research, best practice, primary and secondary research sources sharing issues and design solutions. This “classroom insights.basics” course provides an overview of these content areas: Historical context; Learning theories; Environment behavior theories; Instructional design methodologies; Learning environment insights
This is the second course in a series of the Evidence-based Education Design Curriculum, which will allow you to generate an awareness (level one of Bloom’s Taxonomy of learning) level of learning. The classroom is a complicated space and basic background information is important for creating awareness. As a result of taking this course, you should be able to: Become aware of the demands that pedagogy (or teaching methods) has on both the physical layout and the furnishings; Describe why general purpose classrooms are the work horses of any institution and why they are the most difficult for which to design; Recognize the importance and problems associated with room layout and orientation; Describe the physical and cognitive needs relative to view planes; Describe how fixed, flexible and fluid layouts can either support or become the barrier for delivering activity-based methods; Explain why design makes a difference. Each course in the basic series will build a foundation relative to the new paradigm shift we have defined as the new ecosystem -pedagogy / technology / space.
Last century's classroom design was fine for rote memorization. The 21st century classroom must nurture collaboration and hands-on learning. The student body is more diverse, and includes more nontraditional students. A whole newer generation, Gen Y, is bringing new tools, attitudes, and learning styles to campus. Steelcase has studied the learning spaces of higher education: classrooms, labs, libraries and other spaces where learning occurs. We have developed a deep understanding of the classroom and the needs of students, faculty and administrators. Based on our findings and insights, we have developed innovative applications for higher education classrooms that we would like to share with you.
Libraries are the preeminent icons of higher education. Leafy quadrangles, clock towers, and stadiums may star on the college home pages, but it's the library that captures the academic heart of campus, both symbolically and physically. While information can be obtained from virtually anywhere, the library remains the only central location where new information technologies can be combined with traditional knowledge sources to support the social and educational patterns of learning, teaching and research. In the Spring of 2009, Steelcase initiated a major study of libraries at colleges and universities. This effort, along with our research of higher education over the last several years, has allowed us to develop a set of findings and insights about libraries, and new innovative designs for 21st century library spaces that we would like to share with you.
As work becomes much more collaborative it is taking individuals out of their owned spaces, into shared or temporary work settings. The impact of the migration presents workers and their employers with a whole new set of ergonomic challenges. Ones that are proving as harmful as those faced with the introduction of the desk top. There is a need to arm our mobile workforce and the companies that employ them with ergonomic information that will help everyone make smart choices about how and where work happens. Ergonomics for a Mobile Workforce is a course designed to show individuals how to evaluate their risks and make the right choices about their work habits. It also illustrates ways to design work environments which can anticipate the variety of individual and task needs. The goal for both being to prevent injury before it happens.
In North America, the trend to bench has been catching on fast because it’s a hard-working solution that addresses converging business realities, especially: 1) today’s workplace culture that prefers collaboration and networking to closed-off cubicles; and 2) the pressing need to curb real estate costs and adapt spaces quickly to changing business conditions and needs. Steelcase began conducting primary and secondary research on benching in 2008, including in-depth case studies with 10 clients, six in the U.S. and four in Europe.
Generation Y will be the largest segment of the workforce in the future, yet their attitudes and behaviors about work already are being adopted by older generations. This is changing how knowledge work gets done, and what's necessary to create a high performance workplace. Over a nine month period, Steelcase led a team of researchers that included representatives from Pennsylvania State University and Georgia Institute of Technology, to better understand Gen Y and their impact on business today and in the years to come. Researchers have identified eight major shifts that correspond with the arrival of Gen Y workers, new technology and newfound worker mobility. Based on their findings, the research team explored the next phase of work environments, tools and behaviors, and developed several design strategies for the new knowledge workplace.
As residents of the world’s hottest centers of economic growth, young people in India and China are breaking new ground while surrounded by traditions. Providing the best workplaces for these workers starts with understanding what their generation is all about. To better understand the newest generation of workers in these two important countries, Steelcase completed primary research projects in India and China in 2010, building on methodologies and insights from a previous study of Generation Y workers in North America. That study, completed in 2009, documented a significant influence on both work and the workplace that’s underway in the U.S. due to Gen Y characteristics and their pervasive influence on the other three generations of workers in North American workplaces.
There are four distinct generations of workers in the workplace, all with different needs and desires. This course explores the characteristics and influences of each, as well as the potential impact and benefits they have on the workplace. Attendees will gain insight into trends and how the convergence of the generations impacts the design of space.
With the proliferation of environmental certifications becoming available, this course will focus on demystifying three certifications: FSC, Fair Trade, and Rugmark: highlighting the purpose of each and illustrating how they benefit society at large as well as helping the attendees have a better understanding on what the certifications they use to guide product selection on projects means to their customers.
This seminar focuses on the findings of secondary and primary research conducted by Steelcase, which included observation studies with clients that helped to identify innovation behaviors and processes in actual work settings. Adopting methodologies from anthropology and other social sciences, Steelcase’s Applied Research Consultants and WorkSpace Futures teams, in collaboration with architects, designers and corporations worldwide, are discovering new insights into the types of spaces that work hardest to support meaningful interactions, foster collaboration, and deliver on innovation.
Our perspective about the changing dynamics of the world, work, workers and the workplace is based on the same research process that our Workspace Futures team uses. We conduct extensive secondary research, as well as review all of the primary research Steelcase has done, and conducted interviews with key executives. We study all of these macros trends and then look for patterns as we synthesize all of the available data. Then we study the implications of this on the workplace, and the key issues that are resulting and need to be solved for. In this study we will provide you an overview of the key trends and workplace issues, as well as some ideas we have on how to think about, and design for, the kind of workplace that organizations need to thrive in this interconnected world we'll live in. We refer to it as an "interconnected workplace" and we’ll show you a concept and framework that we have developed in order to support the ideas we believe are relevant and significant.
Today’s design has been influenced by designers from many different places with vastly different backgrounds. This is an opportunity to focus on Danish designers, specifically Hans Wegner, and how craftsmanship, drive for perfection, and simple but clean designs have influenced modern design. Through this course you should expect to gain an intimate understanding of the Danish Masters, who they are, and how their modern yet classic designs continue to seize the design world’s attention today.
Private spaces are constructed in buildings every day. Traditional, fixed construction does a fine job meeting the initial needs of a space. Moveable walls are a flexible, sustainable, cost-effective alternative to traditional construction. This course is an opportunity to learn how moveable walls not only provide a solution with built-in flexibility, but also provides first-cost effective alternatives to conventional construction that simplify the planning and construction process. A solution that considers life-cycle costs and the inevitability of the needs of a space changing all while being considerate of the earth as well.
There are a lot of good things about the current approach to office ergonomics. However, emerging trends and new insights are calling into question the traditional view of ergonomics. Businesses today are taking a more proactive approach to employee wellness in the workplace. But has office ergonomics kept pace? Up until today, ergonomics in the office has been somewhat reactive, focusing only on the physical science and the prevention of injury. Today, we look to expand the ergonomic lens to one that includes the impact of three different, yet related sciences—physical, cognitive, and social—making a “complete” ergonomic workspace and program look vastly different than what it’s ever been before.