
Movable walls - bootload
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2007/04/13.html
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gibsonf1
I designed an office for Crabel Capital in Milwaukee - a whole floor mainly
for the programmers. We started with prefabricated modular movable walls, but
they ended up costing 4x + more than framed walls with gyp board. We ended up
using framed walls. (The tax advantage couldn't come close to closing that big
of a gap.)

~~~
bootload
_'... I designed an office for Crabel Capital in Milwaukee - a whole floor
mainly for the programmers ... We ended up using framed walls ...'_

Glad someone takes these things into account. Not enough thought goes into
developer workspaces apart from the fact that Demarco [0], Spolsky [1] and
Graham [2] talk about relationship between superior workspaces and improved
product.

The evidence is there but as soon as it comes to forking out the dollars there
are excuses everywhere why it costs so much.

Reference

[0] Demarco, Lister, 'Peopleware, Part 2, The Office Environment,
0-932633-43-9'

<http://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Tom-
DeMarco/dp/0932633439>

[1] Joel Spolsky, "google search on 'the office'"

<http://www.google.com/search?q=joel+spolsky+the+office>

[2] Paul Graham, "Great Hackers, The Final Frontier"

<http://www.paulgraham.com/gh.html>

~~~
gibsonf1
(The office was finished early this year)

Here are some of the ideas I was working with specifically for making
developer work spaces (This space is for a very fast growing but financially
mature business - not a cash-strapped startup. My primary advice for a startup
office space: buy DOORS for desks!. You can get doors at home depot for desks
- hollow core nice wood without the door handles drilled out for just over $10
apiece. Put the doors on top of file cabinets, and voila, you have a nice
looking desk at very low cost that can last for years if you like.):

From the hackers perspective:

+Each space had to have natural light and views, but be closable for privacy.
The point here is to allow for staring into the distance when the subconscious
is cranking on an idea, allow the space to be closed during moments of extreme
focus, and to have the doors be a sign to others which mode the person is in
at the time.

+Each space had to allow for a small conference of 2-3 people for easy and
impromptu discussions.

+Each space had to have a lot of attention to detail and materials to make the
spaces feel personal.

+There had to be a space for larger meeting outside of the formal business
conference room. I turned the lunch-room into one of the key design spaces and
put whiteboards all along one wall with data ports for easy discussions and to
make having lunch more fun. (The company provides free lunch every day)

+The developer area had to be acoustically protected from the back office
area, the customer relations area and the accounting area to avoid
concentration disruptions.

+The space was in a classic old building with exposed wood beams and ceilings,
so we used a raised floor system (with no sign to the user that it's raised)
to have all the heating/cooling provided from the floor and allow for easy
addition and movement of data and power ports.

+The server room was treated as a "jewel" with wall to wall glass for people
(especially hackers) to appreciate the racks of technology at their
fingertips. (Also, the servers had multiple power back up systems including
generators, a fire suppression system that would not damage the equipment in
case it was used, and its own cooling system to run at ideal temperatures with
a lot of extra rack space to allow for easy growth.)

From Management's Perspective:

+The space had to be flexible to allow for reconfiguration and potentially
moving out to another space in the future.

~~~
bootload
very cool ideas here ~ must take some time to think about them.

' _buy DOORS for desks_ '

the old cheapscate amazon office ~ <http://glinden.blogspot.com/2006/01/early-
amazon-door-desks.html>

~~~
gibsonf1
Nice link :) I guess my "door desk" is one step above Amazon as the filing
cabinets look better (I use black ones that just happen to be exactly desk
height) and don't cause injury on leg impact. They do cost more depending on
how nice your file cabinets are. The alternative to filing cabinets are bolt
on adjustable metal legs designed to hold doors - they cost about $15 apiece
and look pretty good. <http://www.closet-
masters.com/Table_legs/Camar/slim_legs.asp>

Another great door holder (maybe the best) is a bookshelf from office depot:
[http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?level=SK&id;=718201&Nr;=200000&N;=201641&An;=browse](http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?level=SK&id=718201&Nr=200000&N=201641&An=browse)

A good option: filing cabinet or shelves one side, legs the other.

I actually got the idea in 1989 when I was working for Paul Rudolph Architect
in NYC. He was doing major high-rises all over SE Asia at the time and billing
at $360+ per hour (staff of 7) but still worked on his door. He had designed a
simple steel support structure that tilted the door for better drafting -
analog drafting believe it or not. That was 1 year before I went from pencil
drafting to Cad.

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bootload
this is why I like popping over to JOS every once in a while. Inane detail on
things related to startups that you never think you need to read. Of course
until you are faced with the problem.

