A quick thought; if it’s for so long lauded in the business world, why hasn’t it become common practice in academic circles? It improves employee interaction and discussion, it frees people from the ‘confines’ of a restrictive and tedious office and it reduces costs of building and maintenance. Open Plan.
Having an open-plan office obviously means there are going to be some sacrifices and changes in approach for the users of the space. There’s no all-engulfing classical music, no slumming around in gym clothes after a quick raquet-ball match, because everyone can see you which also means no secret smoking in rooms and far fewer opportunities to lock the door and pretend you’re not there just to get a moments respite from the hoards of grad-students who come a-knocking.
A new style of office would very obviously mean more interaction between staff who, as they’re working in the same fields, could bounce ideas off one another by just popping around the partition-wall. That partition wall would of course not be layered with sound-absorbing materials because they’d be put to good use. One of the major stumbling blocks this idea would run into is the idea of where all the books would go. Every academic worth their salt has a massive collection of books that sprawls and fills walls of bookshelf space so whatever plan was created would need to provide lots of bookshelf space for each user. An open plan shift may even mean a greater square-footage per person because the bookshelves can’t simply be slotted in any which way, but surely this would be to the long term benefit of staff and the institution because of efficiency and educational gains.
Many libraries are now using a system of sliding bookshelves that have a large handle on one end that moves shelves sideways, a system often known as High Density Compact Mobile Shelving. By having two units, one stationary and one mobile, for each user, a university could provide three shelves per person; one facing the user, and two between the sandwich of shelves, leaving the outward facing wall blank or the basis of a neighbour’s bookshelf. With an open-plan system there is less drilling between walls to put in cabling, lighting costs are lowered because you’re dealing with one large area rather than many distinct rooms demanding separate systems. Security would be improved because cameras and alarms could cover the whole floor instead of just corridors and general public spaces.
One major change encountered would be a change in teaching style; there would be less opportunity for seminars or tutorials in the Lecturer or Professor’s room because the noise generated would simply be too great. One would have to have separate rooms, perhaps still visually open through glass panels, that would be used for teaching. One-on-one consultations would obviously still be possible but with a decrease in dead space from each office, there would have to be a number of more causual seating areas dotted around the office for these kind of organised discussions.
Academics may hate it, but so what?
If its open plan, there has to be space to retreat to for quiet, reflective thinking time. It also has to be space away from the students, so staff can work without always having to be interupted by students wandering in and needing attention. Even though our careers office is open plan - and I do like that social side of it - but sometimes a bit of being able to shut the door is good. Open plan also helps as you can bounce ideas off one another - perhaps academics from different faculties should share space - but yeah- they need to emerge from those ivory towers and join the real world, and engage with the students more. Perhaps this is part of the thinking behind our new ‘upmarket coffee shop’ in the foyer - students and staff can meet and talk in comfort, informally and without prior planning. Wwe will see. The Russell group just have to move forward!