Do we give enough thought to the impact that the design and layout of our workplaces has on our individual & collective productivity & well-being? I delve into the world of workspace science to find the answers.

Ros Pomeroy is a co-founder of Brainy Birdz; a consultancy specialising in the unpronounceable (for me, anyway) ‘zusammenarbeit’ - that’s to say, how people work together. Together with co-founder Dr Kerstin Sailer, Ros is at the forefront of using data to help diagnose what makes a workplace tick and what role design plays in this.

In this podcast:

• What is workspace science and who should it be of interest to?
• How is design enabling the growth in co-working that we’re seeing?
• How can seating & proximity plans be optimised to bust silos in the office & bring people together?
• What’s the importance of visibility within the work place?
• Why are open-plan offices getting such a hard time of late?

Ros’s favourite buildings are the new Google Campus & The Francis Crick Institute at Kings Cross for their design-led focus on collaboration & knowledge sharing. Her innovation to follow is the growing trend of data-led decision making across the build environment.

The recommended addition to the newly formed Building Our Future reading list is Neil Usher’s The Elemental Workplace (see here for her review).

You can find & follow Ros on social media via LinkedIn or Twitter (@rosamundpomeroy). 

For more references, do have a look at the Brainy Birdz blog. Also, Ros and Kerstin run regular workshops for anyone interested in learning more.