Creative facilities

Citation

Haynes, B.P. (2011), "Creative facilities", Facilities, Vol. 29 No. 1/2. https://doi.org/10.1108/f.2011.06929aaa.001

Creative facilities

Article Type: Guest editorial From: Facilities, Volume 29, Issue 1/2

Welcome to this special issue of Facilities, entitled “Creative Facilities”. This special issue contains papers that explore the relationship between the physical work space and the creative process.

The first paper “Creativity as social and spatial process” proposes that the study of creativity in the workplace can be evaluated through interaction patterns. The paper explores how creativity can be enhanced by chance encounters with different teams. The research also explores the balance between spaces for communication and spaces for concentration.

The second paper, “Space for thought: designing for knowledge workers”, explores and classifies different types of knowledge worker. The paper links the specific workspace provision with a range of knowledge worker requirements. The research proposes four different typologies for knowledge workers. One of the research findings contained in this paper indicates that all four types of knowledge worker expressed difficulties in undertaking solo work due to the lack of appropriate facilities.

Evaluating workspaces for academics is the basis for the third paper “Balancing collaboration and privacy in academic workspaces”. This paper uses a case study approach and evaluates two different academic office environments. The research findings indicate that academics found the combi-office design to be more satisfactory than open-plan office design with regard to collaboration and privacy.

The authors of paper four, “Environments for successful interaction”, believe that interaction is an integral part of creativity and innovation. This paper categorises interactions based on the main purpose of the interaction. The research suggests that the appropriate interaction media should be chosen based on the purpose of the interaction.

The fifth paper, “Creative workplace: instrumental and symbolic support for creativity”, explores the relationship between the physical workplace and creativity. This paper aims to understand the creative process as a staged process including: preparation, incubation, illumination and verification. The linkages between the different stages of the creative process and the physical workspace lead the author to propose that different spatial settings are required to facilitate creativity.

The final paper in this special issue, “Urbanising facilities management: the challenges in a creative age”, proposes that practitioners and researchers in facilities management can gain insights from urban planning in developing a creative economy.

Some authors in this special issue have used interaction as a surrogate measure of creativity. However, interaction can be positive when people undertake collaborative work, but it can also be negative when people wish to undertake distraction-free work. The creative process can require both individual development and collaborative development. Therefore, finding the right balance between workspaces for collaboration and workspaces for concentration could be seen as an integral component of a creative facilities solution.

Barry P. HaynesGuest Editor