Web Worker Daily

So you thought you’d escaped the cubicle farm when you decided to put down roots in your local coworking community? Think again! The cubicle is back!

At Leeds’ The Round Foundry in the UK, entrepreneurs in the creative and digital industries can opt for traditional serviced office space or a hot-desking plan in a large shared space. Each hot-desker gets a cute lockable ‘pod’, that includes…

• Six large shelves (with file holder tabs!)
• Six power outlets.
• Two Cat-5 sockets.
• A coat/bag hook.
• A motorized, adjustable desk area.
• Um, wheels.

The pods (the model is know as a Macro-1)  are actually quite cool, designed by local company Volume Products as part of a range of modular office furniture. Though they appear to be designed for traditional office spaces, they seem to have been adapted well to the Round Foundry’s coworking area.

However is raises some interesting questions about the nature of work environments that coworkers are interested in inhabiting.

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Last year Conan O’Brian, the NBC late night talk-show host, walked through an Intel campus and made light of the sterile, uninviting cubicle environment that plagues so many ‘traditional’ work spaces we all work in today.  To see his funny and spot on critique, check out the clip.

Intel, while being hospitable despite being the targets of Conan’s jokes, took the criticism to heart and is currently testing out a new configuration to their office environment.  At three Intel campuses the computing giant is starting a pilot program to foster teamwork and community amongst its workers by integrating a new type of workspace.  Described as a living room, the new spaces feature lower cubicle walls, TVs, and smaller and more numerous conference rooms.

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