Issue 1 - Outdoor Corporate Spaces

At facilities across the country, in large companies and small, outdoor spaces address emerging themes in the changing world of workplaces:

Technology and the race to compete are rewriting the rules. We work wherever we are - at the office, in the airport, on the train. Weekdays morph into weekends, days into nights. Some of us spend more waking hours with our co-workers than we do with our families. When workstyle becomes lifestyle the workplace becomes someplace else again.

"As they planned their new facility, Intuit held focus groups of employees to get input. The employees knew just what they wanted - a full competition-size basketball court, a sand volleyball court, an outdoor pavilion and an area for outdoor dining. And that's what they got. These are workers who come in wearing shorts and sneakers - but they have 24-hour access to their workstations and they're there on weekends. They have a tournament on Saturday morning and work in the afternoon."

Neil Thomas
Landscape Architect, TCB Partners

Neil Thomas was the landscape architect for software maker Intuit's corporate offices in Dallas, Texas. At the insistence of the client, the focus of the landscape is a highly-developed recreation area bounded by the campus's two buildings.

We sit at computers for hours a day, manipulating images and data, and exchanging information with people we never meet. We communicate via e-mail in lieu of picking up the phone or walking down the hall. We use the screen as a portal to other worlds and occasionally need reminders of our roots in the one we actually inhabit.

"I think you need to be outside where you can look at something other than computer screens. People need to feel that they are not working every minute of the day and going across a threshold is important. You come in to work every day and you have to feel that, when you need a break, you are leaving."

David Carlson
Landscape Architect

As an associate of the Hillier Group, David Carlson was project landscape architect for the new Sprint World Headquarters, a 200 - acre site of which 60% is allocated to green space.

For most people work is an inside affair: inside a cubicle... inside a building... inside an office complex. Meanwhile, we inherit a tradition that identifies freedom and individual spirit with the great outdoors. We've become accustomed to working inside the box but we all yearn for a breath of fresh air.

"Being outside is important because of all the elements - the air, and the sun - that we're drawn to and that we come from. It's tactile. There's more for your senses outside than there is inside."

Michael McBride
Landscape Architect

Michael McBride, while at Land Design Studio, was landscape architect for the Investors Life Inc. corporate headquarters in Austin, Texas Situated on the outskirts of the city, the site enjoys beautiful views of the surrounding landscape that McBride exploited to enhance the quality of the corporate environment.

Outdoor spaces allow us to connect with nature. They're a balm for the body and a solace for the spirit. Outdoor spaces also help us connect with culture. The planning and design of outdoor corporate spaces can communicate volumes about an organization's values and vision.

"Ed McVaney, the founder of J.D. Edwards who was retiring, wanted to make the connection between the passing on of the company and a favorite maxim that says: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." The company asked us to site a sculpture depicting three generations of McVaney's fishing and we designed the space as a garden in which people can gather and relax."

Melanie Klein
Landscape Architect

Melanie Klein was a member of the Civitas team that created the master plan and designed outdoor spaces for J. D. Edwards' new 60-acre corporate headquarters site in the Denver Technology Center.

Knowledge work is the work of our time. It is demanding and intense, a source of satisfaction and a cause of stress. We are all mindful of the relationship between a healthy, active body and a sharp, active mind. The less we use our bodies in the course of the day's work, the more we need a workout during the course of the day.

"There's much more attention paid today to the quality of life throughout the day - not just before and after work. The work day has become such an important part of our culture that bringing quality into it is critical."

Wesley Stout
Landscape Architect, Wesley Stout Associates

Wesley Stout's redesign of Greenwich Plaza, a strategically located multi-use public/private space in Greenwich, Connecticut, was awarded the Connecticut ASLA 2001 President's Award for Excellence.

Computers have screen savers because it isn't good for machines to be on all the time. It isn't good for people, either. Work requires us to be relentlessly on. Outdoor spaces give us places and permission to turn off.

"Herman Miller has a corporate culture that says that people should be comfortable. In all of our facilities in Spring Lake, Holland and Zeeland there are outside areas where people can go and sit and get away from their desks and their daily work. Many people have been working for the company for years. They know lots of people and when the sun is out they like to take their lunch outside and talk with co-workers they may not see every day."

Mary Hilt
Interior Designer

Q:At Sprint the buildings and outdoor spaces really work together to create an integrated environment. Do you have a special affinity for that kind of work?
I have a B.A. in art and architectural history from Penn State and a master’s degree in landscape architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. My interest in architecture is still almost as strong as my interest in landscape architecture. I really enjoy the built work and of that, I particularly enjoy the corporate work. I grew up with people in the corporate world and have spent lots of time in that environment.

Q:How are developments in the corporate sector affecting the work of landscape architects?
Service and technology environments like that at Sprint are very intensive and they are on the rise. We have learned that the people who work in these environments work hard and need breaks to get away from the routine. This presents opportunities for landscape architects. At Sprint, we provided many different types of environments where that could happen - from small, private corners that cover just a few feet, to big open courtyards the size of a football field.

Q:We often think of outdoor spaces as venues for escape. What about their role as places to interact?
Having outdoor spaces where people can gather and be comfortable is critical today. Corporate offices tend to be very divisional. There isn't much communication between units. Courtyards provide a place for people from different areas to come together. At Sprint even the staircases were designed to encourage interaction. They are wide and inviting and are placed in the centers of the buildings so that people will choose to use them rather than elevators. It's important to get up and walk around when you're sitting at a computer all day and using the stairs allows people to interact and exercise at the same time. We continued this ideaoutside. All of the courtyards are connected by covered walkways so people won't get into their cars and drive across campus. The walkways make it comfortable for people to come together outdoors, even in January and February.

Q:How do you measure comfort?
What makes a space comfortable and inviting has to do with what a particular user needs at the time. Sometimes it's to get away alone and decompress. Other times it's to be with other people and talk. That's why we attempt to address both needs. An example is an area with benches and tables that we designed at the base of the clock tower. The space is big enough so that people can be by themselves, but small enough so they can see people twenty to thirty feet away and have conversations if they choose.

Q:Why is it so important to be outdoors?
I think you need to be outside where you can look at something other than computer screens. People need to feel that they are not working every minute of the day and going across a threshold is important. You come in to work every day and you have to feel that, when you need a break, you are leaving.

Q:What about the human resources function of outdoor spaces in corporate environments?
Companies like Sprint understand that people are spending more time at work and that they must provide amenities for those people. They know that employees who are happy are more productive and that pleasing environments can help people feel better. Companies are also finding that if they don't allocate space to amenities, including inviting outdoor spaces, they will lose employees to companies that do. Sprint is in Kansas where it can be hard to attract highly skilled people who may prefer to live on the coasts. The company realized that it needed to provide a campus that immediately communicates to prospective employees that it is concerned about making them comfortable and providing an exceptional place to work.