This is an article on office aesthetics by MOLA partner Sean O'Laoire which originally appeared on May 12th 2002 in the Commercial Section of the The Sunday Post newspaper under the Expert View column. The article is an outline of the evolution of office fit-out from the 1970's to our recently completed fit-out for Microsoft in Dublin.
 

"Hesperus, Whose Office Is To Bring Twilight Upon The Earth: Milton"

Putting Lipstick on the Gorilla

Let us first resurrect a stereotype and then bury it:- The be-jowled and be-jewelled Irish developer (circa 1970) ponders his return from putting ‘a bit of oul marble’ in the foyer of his latest project – and quickly decides that "aesthetics" are surplus to requirements.
His counterpart today (2002) is contemplating the impacts and virtue of "blue tooth" technology, twin wall facades, natural ventilation and the inclusion of a crèche and health centre and, naturally, whether the market will bite.
However, he will more than likely not treat "aesthetics" as a "bolt-on". He will recognise that "aesthetics" (as being about the expression of beauty) is a "must have" in the current market.


From the de Medicis to Manhattan

Vasari designed the mannerist Uffizi Palace for the de Medicis in 1560 while primarily a place for the administration of justice, its name is a derivative of the latin root "officium" and it is considered a landmark in the evolution from the "office" as a building type.
"Office" of course has connotations of duty and religious ritual. The word is now so firmly wedded to "block" "building or "complex" as to make its roots seem irrelevant. No building type has at once evoked such loathing and satire, while evolving as an icon of western capitalism, particularly after Mr Otis refined the elevator. Apocalyptic images of September 11th, co-exist with the ongoing battle for global phallic supremacy.
The American firm K.P.F. is currently working on the Shayhai World Financial Centre located in the Luzazui Financial and Trade Centre in Pudong. This 95 storey building is to reach a height of 460 m making it, temporarily at least, the tallest building in the world.
It’s reign will probably be terminated by the 108 storey building currently proposed for the birth place of the high rise, Chicago, Designed by Skidmore Owings, and Merrill, its upper floors will be cantilevered from a concrete core and will be topped by enormous digital television broadcasting towers.
The evolution of the "office building" mirrors the evolution of information technology, and this way western society now works to generate wealth. As a building type it houses more and more of humanity for longer periods and contributes more C02 emissions to the atmosphere than any other source.
Latterly, luminaries such as Norman Foster, have contributed to the genre, with variants in the skyscraper theme in Frankfurt and Hong Kong, still cathedrals of capitalism while proclaiming "green" and "sustainable" attributes.
While we can be rightly sceptical about such notions, - it is perhaps around issues of worker and building health, reducing environmental impact, energy efficiency and the quality of the workspace that a more embracing and integrated definition of aesthetics may emerge.

Whence Aesthetics

Kevin Roche the Irish born architect, in a half serious aside, one reduced the issue of modelling the high rise office buildings to getting the "top" (sky) and "bottom" (ground) right. For the most part the office building is in relative terms an elemental "life form" in the architectural hierarchy. The same eminent architect has with his practice Roche, Dinkledoo, been responsible for many of the more sophisticated variants on the office there notably the refinement of the "atrium" form (Ford Foundation 1960) and the self contained "Arcadian" corporate community.
In Kantian philosophy aesthetics is that brand of metaphysics concerned with the rules of perception.
The term "sick building syndrome" (which hardly connotes aesthetic pleasure) is dominantly associated with offices. It’s genesis can be traced to injudicious accelerating concrete drying techniques which induced shrinkage and structural weakening. Coupled with the propensity of totally air-conditioned environments to harbour viruses and disease, this cocktail, largely associated with 60’s vintage buildings, has provoked a backlash, where natural ventilation and ample daylight are seen as marketing assets.


The Irish Experience

To paraphrase Oliver J. Flannagan, the modern office building in Ireland shares with sex, little or no visibility before television.
Our portfolio of office projects embraces the total "make over" of one of the unloved early 60’s pioneers, Hawkins House, currently the home of the Department of Health. Our approach, which may one day win "The Poisoned Chalice Award, builds on Kevin Roche’s dictum; giving something back to the street and the skyline, while refining the expression of a new "skin" that simultaneously reduces glare and solar gain. This package of challenges is generally the gel for the new office aesthetic, which also is about celebrating and expressing natural ventilation, deep penetration of daylight and the use of vegetation to augment oxygenation of the air. The lay observer may be struck by various excretions, which protrude from the contemporary generation of office buildings in Ireland. The ubiquitous "brise soleil" ostensibly diffusing southern and western sun light, has certainly brought a layer of texture and complexity to otherwise monotonic facades. Whether they significantly reduce solar glare is this land of soft rain is of course questionable. However, this new environmental agenda promises design opportunities for articulation and modulation, which will increasingly permeate our lives. Glazing incorporating photovoltaic cells will in time prove economical. Look out for a revolution in medium rise timber frame office buildings.
Information technology and the evolution of the knowledge/learning society has transformed the layout, design, and aesthetics of the individual workplace and communal workplace.
Our practice recently completed the Microsoft E.O.C. Relocation Fit-out project. Involving as it did the amalgamation of disparate departments, the project offered a wonderful opportunity to put a flexible "shell and core" designed, by Horan Keoghan Ryan, to the service of a corporate vision.

The Microsoft ethos, centre an interaction and creativity is a wonderful laboratory of applied innovation where the layout is subordinate to and supportive of creativity and productivity. It bristles with energy – we had a great time with an informed client who knows about the value of aesthetics in a way our 70’s friend could only dream of. Its no longer only about gross to nett…