New workplace trends seem to emerge on a daily basis — when it comes to designing a healthy, productive office space it can be challenging to know where to turn for reliable information. Those in the know are turning increasingly to the experts at architecture and interiors firm Dyer Brown, and to architect Ashley Dunn, director of the firm’s workplace studio.
Now Dunn’s has contributed her valuable perspective to the November 25 episode of the venerable news magazine program Radio Health Journal, broadcast nationwide this past Sunday on over 500 stations, and available for download or streaming through the program’s website and major podcast platforms like iTunes or Stitcher.
Contributing frank talk to a segment about open office plans, Dunn brings to the table Dyer Brown’s highly successful, strategic, client-focused approach to office design. Specifically she addresses the premise of a recent Harvard study purporting to show that open-plan offices impede collaboration rather than encourage it. Dunn sheds light on the study’s conclusions, making clear that there are no one-size-fits-all workplace design solutions.
Those who find her perspective familiar may recall that Dunn authored a much-discussed opinion piece for the pages of Fast Company, in which she addressed the same Harvard study and noted its essential flaw, while pointing to examples of successful open office plans.
Dunn also recently presented a freewheeling, TED-style talk titled “The Trend of Trendy Workplaces” as part of a series hosted by Design Museum Boston, in which she detangled the myriad sound bites, misconceptions, and myths making workplace decisions harder for business owners, executives, and managers.