The space of innovation: interaction and communication in the work environment

As the pace of organisational change accelerates and as new technologies de mand more rapid responses from organisations to changing conditions in thei r business environment, buildings are being called on to play an active rol e in helping to generate new organisational structures and in facilitating individual communication. This raises questions not only of the nature of o rganisational structure and of how communication technologies will affect t hat, but also of the possible mechanisms by which spatial structure can aff ect patterns of interaction in the work organisation. In this paper we will review two recent research-led design projects in which space syntax techn iques were used to help define the building brief for an organisation which depends for its market lead on its ability to innovate. Building on resear ch into the design of research laboratories, we found that patterns of spac e use and movement generated by spatial configuration have a direct impact on the frequency of contact between workers in office-based organisations. The frequency of contact is shown in turn to have an impact on work-related communications cited as 'useful' by questionnaire. These patterns are foun d to be 'system effects' in that they cannot be attributed to an individual worker's desk location but appear to result from the configuration of the whole system of spaces through which people move in their daily work, and h ave detectable effects on the mean 'usefulness' to others of all workers in a part of a building. The analysis suggests, however, that spatial integra tion alone may be insufficient to support flexible working and that spatial differentiation is necessary to provide the range of environments needed b y different types of work activity.