We all remember the shitty looking studios at college. The architectural department was always the ugliest building on campus. But after college nothing really changes. Architectural offices can’t afford a normal office and always house themselves in old garages, old factories, old loft, or office buildings that are planned to be demolished. There are obviously a few firms that practice what they preach and have a nice looking office as all other professionals do but the most architectural offices look worse than the salvation army headquarters.
Most firms have the argument that they don’t have enough money for rent or furnishing. Ironically, even non profit organizations have a better office. And how much money do you need to buy a few cheap blinds or curtains. I have never been in an office that have blinds or curtains against the sun. You are advice to use foamboards from the modelshop and hang it in the window. Is it that expensive to buy cheap countertops from the Ikea instead of using old doors as desk? Is it that expensive to replace a few bulbs to give the office some more light. Is it that expensive to upgrade soft- and hardware from time to time instead of losing days due to outdated hardware? How about a $2 dollar penholder instead of an old jar? Why do I have to share the phone with 10 other people? Why do I have to sit on an old dinning chairs for eight hours a day minimum, because the boss can’t afford cheap office chairs. At Staples they are as low as $30.
And how can you convince your client to ad glazed atrium in the project to enhance productivity under the employees if your own employees are working in a cold dark hole?.
sounds like a personal experience and pretty specific, harold.
i don't know any offices like those you describe. sure, the offices i've visited aren't glamorous - sort of a parallel to the cobbler's kids' old shoes - but it seems most people are given the tools to make their work efficient and make their workspaces comfortable.
sitting on a dining chair? go buy yourself a chair and turn the receipt in for reimbursement. don't go crazy and get some $400 chair, just a good normal chair suitable for the kind of work you do. if they don't bite, you need a new job. if you don't move on, you'll need a new back in a few years...
Why don't you Submit to HGTV to have your sweatshop transformed on "While You Were out".
He/She will be both humiliated and reminded of what a dump he/she operates.
Kind of like "What not to Wear" when a crew of cameramen burst into the office and confront the cheapskate.
If seen the uber-conservative (my 8 to 5) to the totally funky (my freelance) and haven't experienced any in as poor condition as the one you have described. Visit more offices.
Your boss sounds cheap when it comes to his employee's space. I associate that with not valuing his employees. I'd be wary to work for someone who won't fork over $50 for a comfortable chair or even $5 for a new pen holder.
wow, and i thought my boss was cheap, then again we have MiG fuselage in the office, which is awesome, but no van for the construction side of the biz, which completely blows and I think would be a much wiser investment.
I have never worked in an architectural office that did not have a wall painted orange...what it is with the orange?
Also, I have not worked in an office that didn't have at least one of the following:
- A very old wood drafting table still set up with drafting lamp, electric eraser, mayline bar and lead sharpener. It's as if someone 20 years ago just dropped everything and the firm keeps it around just in case of emergency. Usually this table is piled 2' high with drawing sets.
- A mismatched orphan chair vintage 1955-1979. Probably matched the furniture the office had during that era and some long-gone principal kept it as his desk chair long after it was no longer cool. Now it just floats around the office haplessly and despite being uncomfortable and ugly, it now has a vintage retro cool look and no one dares get rid of it.
- A poster of a project that the firm did sometime in the late 80's - early 90's still prominently displayed as if it were completed yesterday. It's hideous and absolutely screams 1987 - but nobody dares take it down.
- A framed print depicting work more well known than that done by the office (typically FLW) with the word "Architecture" shown somewhere prominently thereon (I guess in case staff or clients temporarily forget what type of office they're in).
- Barcelona chair and/or other furniture designed by a famous architect in the lobby.
Number one rule in business is put the money in your pocket, keep fixed costs low, and overhead low. Therefore the office we just built and made improvements on is all furniture that could be moved to another location where very little is permanent except for the kitchen.
I had an office that I owned with all the bad doors as tables and such but I had some very wealthy clients totally appreciate the fact I owned the space and over looked the simple decor and saw that I was thinking beyond the gloss and glimmer of many showroom like interiors. Oh and I did start in the corner of a garage in a 7'x7' cubicle. It was great for a time, we've moved on but never forget that you need not throw money around to do great work.
Thus far I've worked out of...
-Architect's overly-colonial dining room
-Old Exxon station- Reference books were on the tire racks in the back, conference room was the room where you walked in to buy your gas and get a snack. R value of -5.
-Grain Silo in which the middle three floors are just open space.
-Currently- Converted apartment building attached to the local pizza place. Deliciousness flows through the walls and the bar is just one gwb partition away. You can even hear them processing sausage early in the morning.
All just great excuses to have lunch meetings out of the office...
My first architects job was in a ladies living room, and her cat would would lay on my drafting table. One of my tasks, I kid you not, was to dispense shrimp to the cat periodically throughout the day.
I have to stand by my theory considering that for a small office of 4-6 people we maintain a healthy 6 figure cash float in the bank. No loans, liquid capital. Not to brag but I am proud of the fact that its a better fiscal situation of any office I ever worked in while interning etc over a 20 yr. period.
Bad looking architecture offices
We all remember the shitty looking studios at college. The architectural department was always the ugliest building on campus. But after college nothing really changes. Architectural offices can’t afford a normal office and always house themselves in old garages, old factories, old loft, or office buildings that are planned to be demolished. There are obviously a few firms that practice what they preach and have a nice looking office as all other professionals do but the most architectural offices look worse than the salvation army headquarters.
Most firms have the argument that they don’t have enough money for rent or furnishing. Ironically, even non profit organizations have a better office. And how much money do you need to buy a few cheap blinds or curtains. I have never been in an office that have blinds or curtains against the sun. You are advice to use foamboards from the modelshop and hang it in the window. Is it that expensive to buy cheap countertops from the Ikea instead of using old doors as desk? Is it that expensive to replace a few bulbs to give the office some more light. Is it that expensive to upgrade soft- and hardware from time to time instead of losing days due to outdated hardware? How about a $2 dollar penholder instead of an old jar? Why do I have to share the phone with 10 other people? Why do I have to sit on an old dinning chairs for eight hours a day minimum, because the boss can’t afford cheap office chairs. At Staples they are as low as $30.
And how can you convince your client to ad glazed atrium in the project to enhance productivity under the employees if your own employees are working in a cold dark hole?.
sounds like a personal experience and pretty specific, harold.
i don't know any offices like those you describe. sure, the offices i've visited aren't glamorous - sort of a parallel to the cobbler's kids' old shoes - but it seems most people are given the tools to make their work efficient and make their workspaces comfortable.
sitting on a dining chair? go buy yourself a chair and turn the receipt in for reimbursement. don't go crazy and get some $400 chair, just a good normal chair suitable for the kind of work you do. if they don't bite, you need a new job. if you don't move on, you'll need a new back in a few years...
check out other offices, perhaps?
Why don't you Submit to HGTV to have your sweatshop transformed on "While You Were out".
He/She will be both humiliated and reminded of what a dump he/she operates.
Kind of like "What not to Wear" when a crew of cameramen burst into the office and confront the cheapskate.
If seen the uber-conservative (my 8 to 5) to the totally funky (my freelance) and haven't experienced any in as poor condition as the one you have described. Visit more offices.
Your boss sounds cheap when it comes to his employee's space. I associate that with not valuing his employees. I'd be wary to work for someone who won't fork over $50 for a comfortable chair or even $5 for a new pen holder.
wow, and i thought my boss was cheap, then again we have MiG fuselage in the office, which is awesome, but no van for the construction side of the biz, which completely blows and I think would be a much wiser investment.
I have never worked in an architectural office that did not have a wall painted orange...what it is with the orange?
Also, I have not worked in an office that didn't have at least one of the following:
- A very old wood drafting table still set up with drafting lamp, electric eraser, mayline bar and lead sharpener. It's as if someone 20 years ago just dropped everything and the firm keeps it around just in case of emergency. Usually this table is piled 2' high with drawing sets.
- A mismatched orphan chair vintage 1955-1979. Probably matched the furniture the office had during that era and some long-gone principal kept it as his desk chair long after it was no longer cool. Now it just floats around the office haplessly and despite being uncomfortable and ugly, it now has a vintage retro cool look and no one dares get rid of it.
- A poster of a project that the firm did sometime in the late 80's - early 90's still prominently displayed as if it were completed yesterday. It's hideous and absolutely screams 1987 - but nobody dares take it down.
- A framed print depicting work more well known than that done by the office (typically FLW) with the word "Architecture" shown somewhere prominently thereon (I guess in case staff or clients temporarily forget what type of office they're in).
- Barcelona chair and/or other furniture designed by a famous architect in the lobby.
Sooooo true, 4arch.
Number one rule in business is put the money in your pocket, keep fixed costs low, and overhead low. Therefore the office we just built and made improvements on is all furniture that could be moved to another location where very little is permanent except for the kitchen.
I had an office that I owned with all the bad doors as tables and such but I had some very wealthy clients totally appreciate the fact I owned the space and over looked the simple decor and saw that I was thinking beyond the gloss and glimmer of many showroom like interiors. Oh and I did start in the corner of a garage in a 7'x7' cubicle. It was great for a time, we've moved on but never forget that you need not throw money around to do great work.
I like that, Whistler...
Thus far I've worked out of...
-Architect's overly-colonial dining room
-Old Exxon station- Reference books were on the tire racks in the back, conference room was the room where you walked in to buy your gas and get a snack. R value of -5.
-Grain Silo in which the middle three floors are just open space.
-Currently- Converted apartment building attached to the local pizza place. Deliciousness flows through the walls and the bar is just one gwb partition away. You can even hear them processing sausage early in the morning.
All just great excuses to have lunch meetings out of the office...
My first architects job was in a ladies living room, and her cat would would lay on my drafting table. One of my tasks, I kid you not, was to dispense shrimp to the cat periodically throughout the day.
whistler, I want to work for you. And I say this from my own version of the 7' cubicle in the garage (mine's in the basement).
I love your attitude!
do you feet a giant, fat cat shrimp 3 times a day LB?
I have to stand by my theory considering that for a small office of 4-6 people we maintain a healthy 6 figure cash float in the bank. No loans, liquid capital. Not to brag but I am proud of the fact that its a better fiscal situation of any office I ever worked in while interning etc over a 20 yr. period.
Nice whistler! *Apu applauds*
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