THE WORKPLACE REIMAGINED: Q-WORK-Y SPACE
THE WORKPLACE REIMAGINED: Q-WORK-Y SPACE
In the 21st Century, London stands as an iconic and beloved city, yet amidst the daily admiration it receives, a significant issue has marred its reputation as a modern-day "liveable city“.
In 2023, MHFA (Mental Health First Aid) addressed the pressing concern through an article titled '10 Workplace Mental Health Statistics for 2023’, a publication that highlighted critical statistics related to mental health indicators. This encompassed factors such as workplace intensity, productivity, sick leave, and distressingly the revelation that 9% of the UK's 'professionals are grappling with thoughts of suicide or self-harm’. Oxford Academic further underscored the gravity, reporting that stress, sadness, or anxiety accounted for 13.8 million lost days, constituting 46% of all reported illnesses and emerging as the primary cause of work-related absences.
Beyond the psychological toll, a recent report quantified the financial repercussions of this pervasive epidemic. Nearly half of UK workers find themselves running on empty, with burnout and mental health issues costing the economy £28 billion annually to address. London, emblematic of global capital cities, showcases a diminishing quality of life. Other metropolises like Seoul, Bogota, Athens, and Paris present even more extreme examples, grappling with rising unemployment, minimum wage struggles, and cost-of-living crises.
This initiative aims to serve as a potential catalyst for the development of co-working and office spaces, not only within my home country but globally. It aspires to rival the happiness powerhouses of Scandinavia (Finland, Denmark, Norway, and Iceland) and the stress-free environment of New Zealand. The building design incorporates physical interventions, from innovative workspaces on bleacher staircases to kid-friendly features promoting work-life balance on the ground floor. The upper floors provide an escape from work-related stresses, fostering a connection with nature and green spaces to enhance overall well-being.
Q-WORK-Y SPACE is a co-working environment that seeks to harmonize the spheres of work, family, and life experiences, drawing inspiration from human-centric architects and planners like Jan Gehl and Alvar Aalto. These visionaries have redefined Scandinavian design by prioritizing human-centric and social values over mere optimization of floor space and profit.
In essence, Q-WORK-Y SPACE is not just functional; it's fun, playful, leisurely, and undeniably exciting - a transformative approach to workspaces You could even say it's QWORKY.
As alluded to in my introduction, the workplace serves as a melting pot of emotions. However, with the recent revelation of the UK entering an economic recession in 2024, the prevailing mood appears to be one of hardship, both mentally and financially, for many individuals. Coupled with the entirely separate issue of homelessness and rough sleeping ranking among the highest in all the boroughs of London, this creates an atmosphere with a particularly negative socio-political landscape, one that is also costing the local council potentially billions every year.
My brief centers around creating a co-working space that prioritizes work-life balance. This is achieved through a series of interventions creating public and inclusive spaces for everyone who visits.
These spaces include a bespoke oak-fitted bleacher staircase on the lower ground level, drawing inspiration from design principles seen in Alvar Aalto's Finlandia Hall in Helsinki and Snøhetta's Beijing City Library. Below the aforementioned staircase, a series of open spaces include bean bags utilized on both the ground and first floors as casual ergonomic furniture. Another smaller bleacher staircase with extra modular construction desks lies beneath, intended as multi-purpose play spaces for young kids, as well as potential collaboration and meeting spaces. This complements the previously mentioned workspaces located under the main bleacher. To make use of any unwanted understorage space, I decided to incorporate a bouldering wall accessible through a QR code booking system, along with flexible bespoke timber bench worktops.
As you ascend to the upper region of the ground-level structure, you enter a common room space functioning similarly to the breakout spaces in Selgascano’s Second Home Co-Working Space in Spitalfields, East London. While separate from the primary co-working hub on the lower ground floor level, it also provides access to a gallery area that extends the same dynamic from the floor level. Fitted with entirely floor-to-ceiling glass windows, flooded with natural lighting from all angles, the design principles are repeated on the upper levels of the extension.
A quote from Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, the author of the book 'Rest; further supports the design intentions for the space:
We think of rest as a negative space defined by absence of work but it's really much more than that. The counterintuitive discovery is that many of the most restorative kinds of rest are actually active.
Things like exercise or walks or serious, engaging hobbies do more for you than sitting on the couch binge-watching television. The more supine kinds of rest certainly have their place but active rest delivers the greatest benefits. It also provides occasion for creative reflection. - Pang. January 2017.
BUILDNER: Workplace Reimagined Edition 03 (Submitted February 2024) - Shortlisted as a Top 40 project by Buildner for this competition
Please see my competition pages used for final submission below, where, as using the standalone renders displayed throughout the pages, includes proposed plans, elevations, sections, and other conceptual graphics demonstrating infrastructure relevant to my scheme. Click on the pictures (linked to the official results page) to see how my project aligned with others shown on said page.
