Glaxo Smith Kline Offices – Vienna
“My desk, my chair, my storage space” – these times are long gone. More and more companies are nowadays discovering the benefits of vibrant, diverse and communication-friendly working environments which accommodate for recent shifts in the ways they operate. The global healthcare company GlaxoSmithKline is no exception to this trend. In 2014 GlaxoSmithKline moved its operations into a business area located in the Viennese conference centre Europlaza and designed by consultancy M.O.O.CON.
The modification in working method was not triggered by moving into the new premises, but quite the contrary: it was the changed style of working which implied the need for a new concept of spatial use. The SMART Working concept adopted by GlaxoSmithKline is based on the principle that desks are not permanently occupied solely by one member of staff, but rather shared communally. Same goes for the use of meeting rooms, quiet rooms, central storage rooms and archives. “We are aiming to provide a multitude of different working spaces to cater for different types of users and operations, optimising the working environment for the individual user as well as the task at hand”, explains Alexandra Wattie, project manager in charge at the M.O.O.CON consultancy, who delivered the concept rollout in Vienna. In practice, this means:
Whether it is a field representative briefly popping into the office between appointments or an employee processing tasks that demand a high level of concentration: each and every one will find the ideal working facilities at their disposal. Whether they choose a standing desk, sound-insulating cubicle, project table, a couch with a computer desk or one of the many different-sized conclaves entirely depends on the task at hand, the type of employee and their individual state of mood. Around 80 employees working at base and approximately 70 field representatives are using the work stations temporarily or on a daily basis.