Herman Miller Introduces My Studio Environments: A Highly Personal New Concept in Workplace Design

June 05, 2006

Learn more about Real Choices at NeoCon 2006.

Herman Miller, Inc., the pioneer and recognized innovation leader in office furniture systems, is introducing at NeoCon 2006 a new reference point for progressive, productive workplaces designed specifically to attract and support knowledge workers.

My Studio Environments is designed by Douglas Ball, who wryly notes that the concept for My Studio came to him "in a flash--a 30-year flash." Ball, whose studio is located in Montreal, is a richly experienced designer with a reputation for a clean and graceful aesthetic combined with smart functionality.

For organizations and individuals

"My Studio is designed for organizations that want more from an open-plan environment," says Joel VanWyk, Senior Product Manager, Systems. "It responds to many of the most troublesome issues in knowledge work environments by providing a highly thoughtful and precisely focused workspace."

"As work behaviors continue to shift and evolve, and companies confront the ongoing pressure to reduce the size of workstations, Herman Miller is committed to providing innovative solutions," says Mary Stevens, Senior Vice President, Product Management. "My Studio continues our strong heritage of systems furniture research, innovation, and problem solving."

Adds VanWyk: "My Studio appeals to organizations that view both the workplace and knowledge workers as strategic elements of their business. It's a single solution for what often have been competing demands: the need to optimize the use of real estate and the need to provide a comfortable and effective space that makes the most coveted knowledge workers want to be there."

To accomplish this, the designer harkened back to an earlier era in the North American workplace--when the relatively small number of knowledge workers were more likely to have private offices. Douglas Ball's challenge, however, was to design a private-office feel in a 6-foot by 8-foot workstation.

Putting the person at the center

"I went back to the early days when there were desks, returns, and credenzas, and I put the person at the center," Ball said. "You just swing the chair around and everything is right there, within reach."

Ball also introduced the idea of an inverted systems landscape. With traditional systems, the center wall tends to be the highest, and the aisle-side is the lowest. My Studio inverts this formula. The highest wall is on the aisle side, and it has a door, like a private office. The shortest walls are at the back, which fosters connection and interaction among people who work closely together.

Four central concepts drove the design of My Studio and describe its key advantages. Together, these concepts allow My Studio to do what no other system can:

• Vanishing Point design reforms the cubicle, making the office feel larger, more spacious, and more comfortable. With My Studio, office boundary corners vanish through offset walls of varied heights and curved, translucent materials. Walls "float" on glides.
  
  
• About Face permits people to face outward so they can readily see what's happening around them. They aren't placed in a corner with their back to the workstation entrance where they can be easily startled.
  
  
• Zone Logic describes how My Studio places the person at the center, with the elements of the office wrapping around. There are four purposeful zones: Create, Display, Organize and Filter--one on each side of the office--that support different aspects of personal work.
  
  
• Permeable Privacy gives people control over their level of interaction. Translucent, glass shutters open and close like sliding windows to allow communication with neighboring workers, or privacy for concentration.

Aesthetically, My Studio's glass and steel components, its translucent qualities, neutral colors, and curved corners can complement an organization's architectural envelope for a visually cohesive space. Inside, a My Studio office is warm and personal, with true furniture-like qualities and nature-inspired colors.

Environmentally, My Studio also breaks new ground. It's the first office furniture system to be designed and developed according to the Cradle-to-Cradle protocols developed by McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC), and embedded in Herman Miller's own Design for the Environment (DfE) program. My Studio also is GreenGuard certified, helping customers achieve LEED-CI credits.