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Let me take you through my dream office

blog.coderbyheart.com

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Re: Let me take you through my dream office

#151

Post by cableshaft »

cies wrote: post #76

I'm feverishly anticipating for e-ink displays (same stuff as your e-readers), to be plugged in as second monitors. These displays work "outside", and then _my_version_of_the_dream_office_ can become reality: working in NATURE. This of a beautiful garden when many spots: open sun or shady, in a glasshouse or in an airconned glass covered veranda. And "office workers" just find themselves a spot! Besides that I also t…

E-ink monitors can't come soon enough. I would love to work outside. I've dreamed of courtyard office spaces that are open to the outdoors, have trees and plants everywhere, for well over a decade now.

I have a patio in my front yard at home and sometimes on the weekends I try to bring my laptop outside to work on my own stuff while my puppy is tethered, and it's almost impossible to see anything on there, especially if the sun is out at all. Bring on the e-ink!

Re: Let me take you through my dream office

#152

Post by silveira »

Really cool office. I like that there is a lot of windows. I imagine they could be closed if you want less sunlight/glare.

I like the unisex bathroom. The majority of bathrooms are already unisex, as everyone have unisex restrooms at home. We could avoid a lot of complications by having them in the offices as well. Another good thing of your model is not having the gap in the stalls that is so common in the US. I also loved having a shower. One thing, why do you need the window between the bathroom and the kitchen? I don't like the idea of everyone in the kitchen looking who is going to the bathroom.

One thing that would bother me working in this office is that it looks like almost every computer screen has a window behind it or is facing a common area. I don't like that, personally.

The one-on-one meeting area, I think they would be better in a place with a whiteboard and more acoustic isolation and privacy. It could be used for interviewing a candidate too.

The stand-up room could lose one window in favor of a whiteboard.

Re: Let me take you through my dream office

#153

Post by 5ourpu55 »

ensiferum wrote: post #88
noir_lord wrote: post #49

Decided to change job recently, applied for two, went for an interview at the first and they offered me the job. I took it on the spot despite the other place paying more. One of the reasons I took it on the spot was when asked where I'd prefer to work and I said somewhere quiet he said there are offices upstairs, take whichever one you want. That was the major deciding factor (among others), I know the other place i…

"some" developers? I'd guess that's in fact "most". In my experience the only people who like open office are those whose job is to talk all day long. Sales guys, visionaires, busy bodies etc. Everyone else just suffers.

I feel that many people miss one of the big advantages to open offices is that they are CHEAP!

"Open office" is double speak for "cheap, stadium seating style office." The goal is not to have an optimal workspace. It's to cram as many workers into your as possible.

Re: Let me take you through my dream office

#154

Post by noir_lord »

dhimes wrote: post #146
mseebach wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I agree that co-locating teams that aren't directly collaborating can be counterproductive. Loud sales teams, obviously, yes, but quieter teams will also have different patterns of buzz that will be disturbing to unrelated teams near them.

It's interesting. They get REALLY PISSED at the developers about stuff.

When I've worked in none-developer companies I've always found the office staff are fine as long as you don't rub it in their faces that you earn more and have more freedom.

Well except one place where the people in the office where just horrible (really toxic culture largly down to the 'office manager' been about one step short of invading Poland) so I just did as I pleased (wandering in at 10am wearing flip flops and combat shorts), I was pulling 60hr weeks so the boss didn't care and she hated me anyway because she had to do payroll and knew what I was earning, I was knackered from day one on that job.

Re: Let me take you through my dream office

#155

Post by willyt »

tckr wrote: post #60
willyt wrote: post #52

Architect here. Distraction is an issue for us as well. My ideal office would be along these lines too. Mostly it's just construction and rental cost that prevents it; open plan offices use much less floor space and are simpler for things like HVAC and fire evacuation. If you want to change this to an enclosed layout you need to reconfigure all these systems. Most office space is built speculatively by developers and…

Yes, that is exactly my point. We have shitty offices, because they are build to suit the real estate market not productivity. But there are examples which are horrible by design, and not because the property value was important: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2015/11/30... (first pic)

Open plan

Say about 12m2 (130sqft) per person. In London roughly £50-£100/sqft/annum. £6500-£13000 rent per person. So for e.g. Google in london are pretty central and are probably paying >£10000 per employee in rent assuming they are open plan.

Closed plan

Another article quotes triple the area. Sounds about right. So £19000 to £39000 per person per annum for the closed plan office.

Obviously this is going to be different if you set up in a new campus in a rural location, but tech companies seem to converge on areas with very expensive real estate SF, NY etc.

How do these numbers stack up with the productivity gains you would expect to make?

Re: Let me take you through my dream office

#156

Post by dhimes »

noir_lord wrote: post #154
dhimes wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's interesting. They get REALLY PISSED at the developers about stuff.

When I've worked in none-developer companies I've always found the office staff are fine as long as you don't rub it in their faces that you earn more and have more freedom. Well except one place where the people in the office where just horrible (really toxic culture largly down to the 'office manager' been about one step short of invading Poland) so I just did as I pleased (wandering in at 10am wearing flip flops a…

What's interesting here is the sales group is from a different company. Their devs are at a different office. So I hear the stuff like a fly on the wall.

What I don't hear is the root cause of the angst. Is the sales team overpromising? I don't know. But when something's not ready for their demo it gets quite loud.

Re: Let me take you through my dream office

#157

Post by eutropia »

ensiferum wrote: post #92

My previous office where I worked is one of the best ever. - office rooms (usually 1 team or half a team per room, about 3-4ppl) - electric tables for everyone (so you can work either seated or standing) - very nice kitchen, 2 * cooking facilities, 3 fridges, espresso machine - sauna + showers + lockers and towels - laundry facilities - music room with bass, guitars, eletric drums, keyboards. also combined as VR room…

previous!? why did you leave such a heavenly place?
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