Scenes from a Coffee Shop

I don’t think I’ve ever heard a debate about the difficulty of concentrating in dense, open plan offices without someone saying, “but people work at coffee shops and they’re crowded and noisy!” In fact, the coffee shop comes up in discussions about office design with surprising frequency. It got a lot of buzz a few years ago as the “3rd place” for work and lately is being held up as a model for “co-working,” to drive increased innovation.

My take is designers can learn valuable lessons from the coffee shop in how to support the way people work, but what can be learned should go deeper than just providing a big open room with a bunch of tables.

1. People like to sit with their back to a wall.* At my favorite coffee shop, the tables with seats against the wall are always taken first. Yet typical workplace design does just the opposite, placing workers with their backs to the action.
2. People do not like to sit near heavy circulation areas. While the tables against the wall get taken first, the tables adjacent to circulation go last; in fact they’re often unoccupied even when the place is crowded.
3. People are territorial, even in temporary settings. My favorite coffee shop has a few regulars and they almost always sit in the same place. If someone is sitting in their spot when they come in, you can feel the frustration ooze out of them. Office hoteling strategies are interesting in theory, but people will gravitate to the same place, and often be aggressive in defending that place.
4. People tolerate more when they have a choice not to. My coffee shop often gets too noisy, too quiet, too cold, too hot, too dull. But people seem to tolerate it, and I'm guessing it's because they can leave if they want. Knowing you have an exit makes any situation infinitely more bearable. Any office transitioning to an open plan should implement a flexible mobile work policy.
5. Not everyone can work in the open. My coffee shop is a good size, has Wi-Fi, outlets, and encourages people to sit for as long as they want. It’s not always crowded, though. This is because for every one person who can work comfortably in an open environment, there is at least one person who cannot. Workplace designers too often make an illogical leap that what works for some, works for all.
6. Generation X, Y, Z, Boomer, etc. are pretty similar. Whether it’s an old man or a teenage girl coming into the coffee shop, the points above remain true.
7. Great coffee is an amazing draw. My neighborhood coffee shop has an AMAZING latte and a discounted price on your second cup. How could I not stay and work a bit, even with the loud talker on their cellphone at the table next to me?

*This approach has been applied on a Gensler project with almost startling success. It’s much easier to gauge whether a coworker is concentrating by seeing their face as opposed to the back of their head, and this fact has reduced distracting interruptions. The new seating approach has increased collaboration by allowing people to better notice when someone else is available. And when leading a client through the space, seeing people’s faces as opposed to their backs has had an enormous positive impact on the impression left by the office. The employees feel more valued and respected by the company and less like school children being monitored.

Erik Lucken is a reformed architect who now develops research and client strategies for Gensler’s work practices. His core belief is that workplace design can improve business performance and the quality of people's daily lives. Contact him at erik_lucken@gensler.com.

Comments

[Brad J.]

#1 is dead on! It's basic Feng Shui not to sit with your back to the room. Benching systems are the worst offenders. They're the veal farms of workplace design: workers crammed in facing either a wall or another calf. Is Gensler really designing this thoughtfully or is this post just PR spin?

[Tim P.]

I agree on all counts. I think #4 is particularly insightful - it's amazing how much more you'll put up with when you know you don't have to.

[Cheap Poster Printing]

Number 7 is what I love the most! A great coffee is a tension remedy for me! -Sarah-

[Cristian Asher]

All of these are total head-smackers -- so obvious! How could no one have realized this?! Love #1, and it's opened my eyes to why I don't like my bench workspace. In my case, the facing-the-wrong-way problem is compounded by having a major thoroughfare at my back, so aside from my work surface, itself, I have no definable personal space.
And really -- no designer has ever stopped to realize that one of the biggest reasons people gravitate to coffeehouses is because of the coffee??? This should be a wake-up call for everyone to take off our blinders and learn to see bigger pictures every time we're researching, observing, or just experiencing a moment!

[Monica V.]

Thanks for sharing. As a member of Generation Y, I think all of these coffee shop observations can be used to describe an office setting just the same. (Minus the territorial part, I call it personal space.)

[Kevin Derrick]

Great post, I'm agreed on nearly all fronts... I'd add that #1 and #2 aren't always hard-fast rules though. I'd hate to be stuffed in the back of a coffee shop, away from all the action. A window seat is prime territory for me. (Though this may speak more to typical storefront architecture, applying less to offices with windows on the periphery.)

[Erik Lucken]

This is all great feedback -- much appreciated! And Brad J, I'm working on a case study post of the Gensler project that implemented lesson #1. Not PR spin, Gensler really is committed to learning from people the kinds of space they want and need in order to work at their best.

[Anne Whitacre]

and you forgot the reasons why I used to go to my (former Seattle) coffee shop: comfortable armchairs, near a fireplace, populated by people I liked to see and a barista who knew everything about everyone. I could talk with my local congressman (yes, really); the shop owner down the street; the neighborhood cop (who also was a board member of the Seattle Film Society) the bookseller and the local butcher. In short -- I could share information with people from my neighborhood who don't do what I do. All those inputs made my work a lot better. As a work space it wasn't that great; but as a work enhancement -- it was unmatched. I didn't need a community newspaper -- I just had to drop into Pat's Coffee every day.

[Ken Sanders]

Eric,
A great set of observations, and I generally agree. It's also true that the majority of people working at coffee shops are working solo and not actually collaborating. Sitting with your back to a wall, while understandable as an individual preference, is partly driven by the desire for privacy within a public venue. Balancing individual preferences within workplaces that seek to sponsor collaboration - which is generally (but not totally) absent in coffee shops - is the real trick. I look forward to hearing more about the case study!
Ken

[Ben Shealy]

"Great Good Place" by Ray Oldenburg... Fantastic read about the history of coffee shops, beer gardens, the english pub and the american tavern and how they foster communication and interaction. I would recommend it to others interested in the concept of 3rd place! I love hearing and seeing this concept applied to other building types!

[Francisco R.S.]

People tend to be more social then they might seem.A new trend in the coffe shop might include a point where people can meet conversate an relate bussiness & news. With regular trips to cofee shops one looks for appeal, comfort and location.

[Rhonda E.]

Great article with dead on bullet points! Will have to save this one and share with clients. Thanks for posting! Look forward to future posts.

[Ehren]

NIce oberservation

[Jaimelynn S.]

Great article and valid observations! I'm particularly intrigued with point #4. It's amazing what people are willing to tolerate, when it's their own will. Thanks for sharing!