Solutions to help corporate facilities bring elements of their workspaces outdoors are not only relevant in helping planners and managers adapt to the current expectations they face in the wake of COVID-19, but also to the new expectations for health and wellness that will persist over time. Integrating unique outdoor experiences into the workplace will continue to play a key role in elevating a property's desirability and the quality of life for those who inhabit it.

To create engaging, comfortable and productive outdoor work environments, Landscape Forms’ Studio 431 President, Michael Blum, says a customized focus on adaptability, community interaction and diverse use are key. "We believe that employees prefer dynamic spaces to accommodate different work and social activities,” says Blum. "We are seeing an increase in projects that extend the office environment to adjacent outdoor spaces like terraces, rooftops and courtyards. Employees appreciate the ability to get outside during the workday and to do so in well-designed spaces tailored to support their needs.” To see how these space planning principles play out it practice, Blum points to recent projects like The Hub mixed-use office and transit space in Denver, CO and the ProMedica Corporate Campus in Toledo, OH as particularly well-executed examples of Studio 431’s custom work.

Designed around the increasing overlap between our work and social lives, The Hub's outdoor common spaces invite different activities and group sizes with the aim of building community across its range of tenants. "Today's generation of employees is looking for more," says Scott Jordan, Principal of Civitas, the landscape architecture and urban design firm behind The Hub. "Life is tied to work. De nombreuses relations sociales naissent au travail. Le concept The Hub permet aux personnes travaillant pour différentes entreprises d'entrer en contact avec les autres partout dans le bâtiment. Le design favorise les intersections sociales, où les personnes peuvent se rencontrer et créer une communauté. »

For the ProMedica Corporate Campus and its adjoining park, the objective was to enhance employee wellbeing while also providing new value for the Toledo community at large. "With the ProMedica project, the goal was to bring employees together, celebrate the natural landscape and beautiful views as well as create a welcoming space for the community," says Michael Blum.

In both The Hub mixed-use development and the ProMedica Corporate Campus, large-scale custom Studio 431 seating elements serve as anchors for the outdoor space. Custom design and engineering respond to the sites' individual footprints and topography to intuitively guide people and encourage their interaction in ways that best makes sense with the space.

Throughout The Hub's Great Hall central deck space, Studio 431 created a series of bright yellow 30-foot long, six-foot wide custom benches with fire pits in their centers to serve as a year-round social focal point. The benches make for a dynamic gathering place as tenants from multiple companies mix together on the deck. "The long benches add to the communal feeling of the place, and bright colors are a visual cue to come out and use the space," describes Scott Jordan. A selection of Landscape Forms' standard offerings complement the custom bench seating to create different "rooms" within the deck space. Les différentes zones de la terrasse créent « une palette ouverte à utiliser de différentes façons », affirme Jordan. "The intent was for people to make it their own space, to move with the sun and move depending on the activity."

On ProMedica's sprawling corporate campus, planning, urban design and landscape architecture firm MKSK called on Studio 431 to create sculptural bench seating that followed the site's winding central walkway and reflected the landscape's undulating topography. « MKSK voulait donner aux piétons une raison de s'arrêter en chemin », affirme Darin Piippo de Studio 431. « Ils voulaient un banc sculptural intégré à l'aménagement paysager. L'équipe de MKSK aurait pu concevoir une barrière traditionnelle, mais elle désirait réaliser quelque chose d'exceptionnel. »

And exceptional the result was. An all-star team of Studio 431 engineers and manufacturers came together to figure out the intricacies of creating a 100-foot-long continuous bench that spanned a five-percent grade change. « La grande envergure du banc présentait un obstacle », affirme Chad Kendall, ingénieur de projet pour Studio 431. "We wanted to make the bench self-fixturing so that the pieces would fit together accurately and easily. Toute la structure a été découpée au laser et formée avec des raccords et des fentes. Cet élément de design était essentiel pour réussir à fabriquer un banc de cette ampleur. »

L'équipe a également dû ajuster le banc afin de tenir compte de la pente sur le terrain. Kendall et son équipe ont conçu des pieds ajustables pouvant être réglés avec précision pendant l'installation pour faire en sorte que le plan du siège soit au niveau et que les élévations soient exactes. Au total, le banc est constitué de 2 600 éléments en bois et en acier assemblés en 20 sections de cinq pieds. « L'investissement initial réalisé par le service d'ingénierie a grandement facilité l'installation du produit fini. The beauty is that the bench reads as one continuous element, almost floating above the landscape," describes Darin Piippo.

Studio 431 President, Michael Blum concludes, "In each of these projects and many others for high-profile clients, the outdoors brings new value to their spaces and can create more dynamic and rewarding settings for employees." Indeed, the benefits of activating underutilized outdoor spaces are far-reaching and enduring. Through Studio 431's full-service, collaborative approach, activating these spaces is not only a timely, effective answer to current concerns-it is an important investment in future-proofing facilities by meeting the lasting expectations for beautiful, wellness-oriented outdoor spaces in the workplace.

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