21st Century office design is being driven by the millennials’ passion for versatile, creative workspaces – and the inherent flexibility of glass garage doors. Businesses throughout San Diego are leading the way.
Glass garage doors have led a revolution in the rethinking of business and commercial floor space usage and allocation. The unrivaled ability to quickly and quietly lift a wall to make a larger, more inclusive space or lower it to create a private area for conferencing or tasks needing more isolation has proven of great benefit. This is a trend that is growing, and directly addresses cultural shifts in the work and even school environment – and led by the millennial generation.
By the end of this year, millennials (those born between, approximately, 1982 and 2004) will outnumber the boomer generation in the workforce. Millennials are “wired” from an early age to multi-tasking, collaborative effort, and integration of work and play. Flexible hours, shifting work teams, and variety in work/career experience are ingrained values in most millennials. They like (sometimes demand) to set their own goals, and care more about meaningful experiences than traditional corporate ladder-climbing to the “corner office.” They even value this need for self-expression over – or at least alongside – compensation. They will drive innovation and collaboration to higher levels if provided the right atmosphere and corporate culture to do so.
Office and other workspaces’ architectural design, inspired by Google and similar innovators, is beginning to adapt to these emerging needs. Google’s goal, to “create the happiest, most productive workplace in the world,” has inspired other planning experts to push for substantial increases in amenity space – often devoting upwards of 15% of the entire space to cafeterias, game rooms, and other areas that enhance the worker’s psychological experience. This is in addition to ample collaboration and meeting space.
But not all planners take into account the work values and emotional needs of their employees – they simply take advantage of the growing trend in reduced floor space per employee to cut operating costs. This, ultimately, is short-sighted. Today, a worker in a typical office environment averages only 175 square feet of space – down from 275 square feet only ten years ago and 225 square feet a mere six years ago. Now, at roughly 78% of the size common in the pre-2010 era*, companies are searching for ways to balance floor space cost-effectiveness with improved intangibles – the critical “psychological space” that leads to greater employee satisfaction, productivity, and commitment. Millennials, and those who follow them, desire a work environment that has fewer walls and higher areas of interface – between work and home, work, and play – and thrive on variety in their work experience – conferencing, training, “thought time,” and focused production time. With San Diego’s high-tech, medical, and educational prominence, these trends are front and center. The city’s mild climate also invites flexible, easy indoor/outdoor interfacing, a need matched perfectly by the use of glass garage doors.
This is where ADS Automatic Door Specialists offers ideal solutions. Glass garage doors aren’t just for garages – think of them as highly versatile sectional frame doors with ample glass windows that raise or lower automatically at the push of a button. They are used in a wide variety of ways and can be adapted to many different commercial needs and situations – from pubs to corporate suites. ADS Automatic Door Specialists has served San Diego for over three decades and has broad experience in collaborating with architects, office space designers, and businesses of all kinds. Call us when you’re ready to talk. You may be surprised at the long-term value of our installations – for your company’s productivity as well as its bottom line.
