This morning we did a redesign of the office where I work. Previously, the office had been designed purely on paper–we (Okay, I) had no sense in advance of the physical space save for speculation based on measurements alone, and had to create the layout halfway blind. Because of this, requests for equipment such as more office computers won out over spacing. We all thought it looked good on paper, but in practice, it was way too crowded. The spaces between desks were underestimated as people tended to naturally push away from their desks far more than I had guessed; additionally, I had not taken into account the constant conferencing of teachers with their students, who would grab nearby chairs and cluster in an area. As a result, the office was far too crowded, and avenues of movement were constantly being blocked, in addition to other problems.

Today’s redesign was a vast improvement; by getting rid of two cabinets and two computer desks we really did not need, we were able to move more desks to the wall areas and instead of two desk islands, reduced it to one–and now the office looks hugely improved. One tall partition that used to be in an island in the middle of the room is now removed, making the room seem larger and more open. It looks a hell of a lot better and should work a lot better as well.

There is also one feature of the room which I have always liked: the allowance for wiring under the floor. The room’s carpet is laid down in squares about a foot and a half to the side; they adhere to the sticky of small wood panels beneath. The wood panels cover an array of styrofoam blocks with channels in them, and this allows for wires to pass beneath the floor. Electric and computer network cables can be run to anywhere in the room, popping up to serve any desk or station.

The same is true in the computer lab I work in. I have to assume that this is a standard design in a lot of offices and other rooms, but I had never seen it before I started working at my college–few people realize these floors are here or how they work–and always thought it was a very clever and useful design.