architecture tips

One of the leading innovations of modern age is Cubicles that has offered a new look to the workspaces. Cubicles are occupying the major spot in terms of annual sales figure of the office furniture and it counts nearly $3 billion every year.

The word 'cubicle' is derived from the Latin word 'cubiculum', meaning bed chamber. However, it has been widely accepted to denote any small enclosed space, provided with partitions that do not reach to the ceiling.

The inception of the idea of cubicles took place in 1960, when Herman Miller, under the guidance of Robert Propst started Herman Miller Research Corporation, to resolve the problems related to the use of furniture. He conducted research on how the workspace affects the psychology of the employees and how workspace has undergone changes over the years, demanding a total remodeling of it. Its invention was necessitated by the rising price of real estate and also the increasing cost of reconfiguring the office to accommodate the ever increasing workforce. Earlier employees used to work sitting behind rows of desks at an open space, known as open-bullpen, being subjected to unwanted diversions and distractions, devoid of privacy. This was bringing the employees' productive skills notably down and killing their tendency to take personal initiatives. That is when they came up with the thought of installing cubicles in the corporate offices, which was intended to give a boost to the productivity of the employees; hence its launching name was 'Action Office'. The Action Office included different desk levels to let the employees to work in a stand up position for a part of time. This was arranged to encourage constant blood flow as well as for keeping monotony and exhaustion at bay.

Cubicles are nothing but enclosed workspace that separates an employee from the neighboring workers, offering him much needed privacy and personalization and providing him with the opportunity to concentrate better on his work. This new improvisation on the conventional workspace has various display shelves and partitions also form an integral part of it. The partition provides privacy as well as places to pin up the scheduled works or works in progress.

It is also possible to turn an open workspace into a cubicle office simply by combining conventional standing desks with special kind of free standing partitions. When you are planning to turn your open-bullpen into modular office cubicle, lighting arrangement, need of the employee, the space you want to provide for each cubicle and the cost of such remodeling are some of the crucial factors to consider.

Modern day office cubicles can be changed according to the need of the employee, without costing extra bucks for buying additional furniture. These can be also personalized to suit the working environment. As it is an enclosed workspace, so it brings the surrounding walls to the reach of the employee, thus allowing him to personalize the desk with various things such as necessary notes, bulletin boards, small hanging shelves etc. Cubicles turn the workspace, a spot of privilege which is actually not available with the conventional desks.

Solon Zones writes extensively on the use and efficiency of different types of office furniture. Through his blogs and articles, he highlights some pertinent aspects about hiring reputed firms that manufactures office cubicles Orange County, CA.

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