There has been a number of pointers and tips over the years on how employees can achieve balance between work and personal life, and how the employers must make room for employees to spend more time out of offices.
Most multi-national organizations are working towards achieving this balance. However, a design studio in Amsterdam has come up with a unique idea up their sleeve which would figuratively keep the bigwigs astonished and out of contention.
Heldergroen, a design studio based out of Amsterdam is just like any other office during business hours. When the business closes at 6PM, the desks retract up to the ceiling along with the desktops, paper, pens, wires and other accessories. Chairs are moved to a side manually. So what would be left is wide open space. One looking at the open space can never guess that an office in the morning got moved out in the evening.
The company lets the empty space to be used for various activities like yoga practice, dance lessons and networking sessions – for free.
The desks at Heldergroen are attached to the ceiling using steel cables and a mechanism for lifting it up to the ceiling with all the computer equipment intact. It takes at the most two minutes for the office to be cleared out.
This innovative office has not only boosted the company’s creative image, but has also sent out a strong signal to its employees that work stays at office and during work hours only.
The innovation does not stop here. The office is built from an abandoned chocolate factory. Office furniture is made from household furniture that was trashed in the neighborhood. Cabinets were built out of flattened car doors. And desks from telephone poles.
