A flexible, sustainable place of work

As a workspace design firm whose clients include some of the world’s largest corporations, M Moser Associates has long recognised the importance of sustainable practice.

Accordingly, when the company considered the renovation of its Shanghai office, it turned its ‘green workplace’ know-how inward. The result was a workplace that fulfils lofty expectations for sustainability as well as functionality.

Practically green

Covering a total area of 12600 sq-ft, the main office area is located on the ninth floor of an 11-storey commercial building in Chang-ning. The neighbourhood’s convenient public transportation is a sustainable feature in itself, allowing staff to minimise use of private cars and taxis for their daily commutes.

Inside, the main office volume is divided into two basic functional zones - a public area, which includes the reception and main meeting room suites; and a general workspace accommodating professional teams and their tools.

In keeping with M Moser’s company-wide aesthetic, the public zone exudes simple elegance. Meeting rooms are situated next to the windows and are partitioned by floor to-ceiling smart glass. When completely translucent, the glass allows sunlight to flow directly into the spaces; for confidential meetings, the partitions turn semi-opaque at the flick of a switch. A WiFi network in the public area provides an easy way for visitors to access and download information.

The working area is an open, unobstructed area with clusters of workstations aligned along its longest side. As well as being the most efficient use of available floor area, the arrangement also takes maximum advantage of the half-height windows nearby to reduce dependence on artificial lighting. Above the windows, light shelves are used to even out the natural illumination and diffuse it deeply into the space.

Free collaboration areas in the work space encourage discussion amongst staff members. Using the office’s network connectivity, staff can even invite colleagues from other M Moser offices to join the conversation if necessary. ‘Brainstorming’ tables are strategically located at the centre of the office to enhance spontaneous collaboration. Meanwhile, individual telephone and video conferencing facilities help to minimise staff members’ business travel and expenses.

More sustainable thinking is evident in the office’s extensive use of automatic/programmable zoning, motion detectors and photo-sensors to optimise artificial lighting and HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning) control. These features alone have resulted in energy savings of 15 to 30 percent compared to the previous office, without any sacrifice in performance or comfort.

Enhanced scalability

As the new design would need to comfortably accommodate 10 percent more staff within the same ‘footprint’ as the previous architecture, intelligent space utilisation was a major project priority. To this end, rather than a typical regimented ‘classroom’ layout, the redesigned space uses a combination of Y-plan and rectangular work tables that not only creates a larger seating capacity, but is also less ‘static’ and more conducive to collaboration. Parts of these areas can also be used for group discussions.

Another notable characteristic of the office is an extensive use of plants to improve indoor air quality and offer some visual respite from long periods of staring at computer screens. To cope with future growth, key data and power supply provisions were installed beneath the office floor.

"This office is a convincing link between M Moser’s identity and such desirable qualities as functional efficiency, flexibility, dynamic communication and creativity," says Dick Mak, M Moser group managing director. "We expect all the sustainability and ‘doing more with less’ features will improve our productivity and make our office a more efficient and appealing place to work. Ultimately it means providing better service to our clients."

M Moser’s sustainable design expertise has earned the Shanghai office a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).