Applications: Mirra, Celle, Soft Seating
A great deal has been written down the years about the link between workplace design and successful management practice. The links between organisational culture, business objectives and the places we work are well-researched,
widely accepted and incontrovertible.
It is a topic that is covered on courses at the School of Management at Cranfield University in Bedfordshire which prides itself on its non-academic, applied approach to the science of management. So it was no surprise that when it came to developing its own buildings, CranfieldSchool of Management was keen to set the standard for others to follow.
The School of Management is part of the world renowned Cranfield University currently based on three campuses in the heart of England. The School of Management itself is based on the main campus in the eponymous village of Cranfield near Milton Keynes in Bedfordshire. The international reputation of
the School is refl ected by the fact that around a third of its students are from overseas. To add to its aura of The University itself even boasts its own airport, a unique feature of which it is very proud.
The School of Management is the largest of the University’s five schools. As long ago as 1998, the School had identifi ed a need to develop its infrastructure to refl ect its identity, develop its offering to students and promote its own ideals about the management of the space. As a result the School has invested
heavily in recent years in its buildings.
The latest project completed at the end of 2007 is a landmark example of how institutions can work in partnership with government and private sector partners to deliver world class results. Taking advantage of the UK government’s Strategic Research Infrastructure Fund and working closely with commercial
partners such as Herman Miller, EDS and Doughty-Hanson, the School has developed a working environment for the Cranfield Management Research Institute that refl ects its own status and forms a strikingly practical and original blueprint for the rest of the University to follow.
David Tranfield of the School of Management headed the development of the project. ‘The new building provides a range of spaces that refl ect the diversity of work that is carried out,’ he explains. ‘We always attempt to focus on real world applications in the way we work, so it was important that the new building had to reflect that. We needed areas for collaboration, both in the open plan spaces and meeting areas but also wanted to create private spaces for quiet working. It was also important for us to encourage people to take time out from working and also increase the likelihood of chance meetings.’
Developed within an existing structure, the team worked on developing these very contemporary principles in close partnership with Herman Miller. The doughnut shape of the building provided the perfect platform to achieve these objectives, by forming a natural focal point in a newly-covered central atrium
for break-out space, conferences and presentations. The main working spaces including open plan and cellular offices, meeting rooms, reception, library and a world-class audio visual suite surround this core space. Even within each of these areas, subtle differences refl ect the work carried out within the
space.
‘We see this level of working environment as essential in not only refl ecting the brand and looking after our day to day functional needs, but also an essential factor in attracting students from around the world.
‘We were also focussed on the need to raise the profiles of academics both internally and externally. Because we’ve met these objectives in the way we use the space, we’ve also seen the building as a driver of change. As an institution, we have to constantly reinvent what we do and how we do it, so we’re delighted to work in a building that provides a platform for what we currently do and which also anticipates what we will need to do in the near future.
