Office Redesign

Two weeks ago our office was under construction and we returned a week and a half ago to a newly redesigned space. Although I’ve stayed in the same room in my office since I started working, my surroundings have changed a fair amount since August. Initially, I was in a large room by myself, nicknamed the “Orange room” after the brighter-than-Princeton’s-orange wall that I faced. There were mixed feelings about the color, but I liked it. A few months after I was hired, two new staff joined me in the Orange room – a very welcome change after sitting alone for most of the day. Sitting in one place all day has definitely been a big adjustment to working life and it really helps to have company. The next step was removing the wall that connected our room to the rest of the office floor. As part of the redesign, the formerly solid wall has been replaced by stacked wooden cubes/boxes, some of which are hollow, making the space private but also open to the rest of the floor.

Seating has shifted so that our room (alas, no longer orange) includes the most of the Communications/Work on Purpose team - another junior staff, our supervisors, and myself. I’m looking forward to easier communication, since my boss and I are sitting next to each other and will no longer need to use our phones for quick questions. It will be great to have more space for and ease of collaboration. I’ll post a picture of the space soon – it’s definitely unique among office styles. The architects designed it to reflect our brand as an ecosystem where the sum of the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.