Canvas Office Landscape: Choice. Harmony. Connection.
March 24, 2011
Canvas Office Landscape
Herman Miller’s Canvas Office Landscape is designed for today but will evolve for tomorrow. Canvas is a holistic work environment that brings choice, harmony and connection to organizations and their spaces. Canvas is a holistic perspective on work environments: it’s the next step for Vivo and Intent with ongoing design development.
Canvas Office Landscape Private Office Application
Herman Miller understands that you want more and less, “More connection, more collaboration, more technology, more transparency, more flexibility, and more consistency. Less real estate, less formality, less hassle, and less impact on the environment.” Canvas is designed to encompass these needs and is a “kit of parts” that can accommodate many needs from private offices to open plans. A variety of design is possible through combinations of finishes and colors.
Canvas Office Landscape Open Plan
Some highlights of the Canvas solution:
- Diverse and nimble design to respond to varying needs
- Ability to lower horizon planes allowing more natural light throughout the space
- Can move to an open plan allowing for privacy or openness
- Bring existing Vivo and Intent installations forward as work continues to evolve
- Allows for more teamwork and collaborative areas that build interaction, dialogue and contact
- Supports business and people in a natural, balanced way
- Aligns with Herman Miller’s belief that facilities are based on change
We have two new installations of Canvas in our Showroom. Stop in and experience it for yourself!
To request more information, contact us at betterwaystowork@intereum.com
Enhancing Safety Through Design
March 8, 2011
Zeeland Community Hospital Emergency Department
Kerrie Cardon, RN, AIA, ACHA, spoke at Intereum last week about Enhancing Safety Through Design in Healthcare environments. She is a Registered Nurse and a Registered Architect recruited by Herman Miller to research healthcare environments and share her findings with Healthcare Providers, Designers, Planners and Architects. She travels across the country delivering CEU’s. Below are some takeaways from the Enhancing Safety Through Design CEU she delivered last week:
Zeeland Community Hospital Emergency Department
“The buildings that we are building and planning today really do impact safety” – Kerrie Cardon
Single Bed Rooms allow patient privacy, higher occupancy, fewer transfers, improved infection control and a family support zone. This is good for the patient and their families, but it increases staff travel distances according to Kerrie. Couple this with the fact that supplies are centralized and decentralized, our Nurses walk 1-5 miles per day/shift. Kerrie job-shadows Nurses to observe behavior, and she notices that Nurses don’t get a change to rest as they are always on their feet. Kerrie suggests having nursing needs located in or close to patient rooms to reduce foot travel. Example: Storing medications in locked drawers in patient rooms or mobile carts with locking drawers. She also suggests that for standardization compliance, try to have everything at the Nurse’s fingertips so they don’t skip steps. Example: Utilizing mobile carts and mobile workstations.
Mobile Technology Carts
The mobile workstation allows for fewer footsteps to be taken each shift. Nurses can work anywhere. The mobile workstation also allows for changes in technology. “Flexible planning dictates multi-use space vs. single-use space” Kerrie reminds. When designing workstations, keep in mind the use of adjustable-height worksurfaces to accommodate different-sized employees (this is especially relevant with the increased amount of men entering the nursing field).
CoStruc System Caregiver Height Adj Alcove Application
Simple things to keep in mind when designing:
- Proper lighting is essential at the point of care – especially when 40% of Nurses are over the age of 50
- Overhead storage can be dangerous – consider the use of mobile carts
- 83% of Nurses work with back pain, and back injuries cost about $16B/year. Providing lift equipment in as many places as possible allows quicker, easier access to maximize compliance. This means allocating more space for equipment since lifts don’t have a small footprint.
- Getting patients to walk around is essential – they heal faster, but it increases the risk of injury. Adding placed of rest throughout the corridor where patients can have a place to rest when walking around will increase their willingness to move about.
For more information about Kerrie, her information or to learn how you can attend a CEU next time she is in town, contact us betterwaystowork@intereum.com
Becoming an Agent of Change through Vocabulary and Communication
December 3, 2010
Simple. Adaptable. Solution.
“The science is there. Yoga works. What we need to change, is how we talk about it.” Matthew Sanford (Waking Mind and Body, www.matthewsanford.com) when speaking about Adaptive Yoga enabling his severed spine to show electrical activity on an MRI
Simple. Adaptable. Solution.
In the last couple of “Agent of Change” blogs, we discussed Adaptability/ Flexibility and using Inspiration to plant the seeds of change when planning for your facility upgrades. We have heard responses that “Flexibility” is a broad term and “Adaptability” is a term that refers to needs that have not happened yet… so how do we talk about them? How do we use conversation to create a transformation – not only to enable people to visualize change but also learn to problem-solve, cope with complex situations and then keep their minds open to what these new thoughts produce? How do we inspire new ways of thinking to achieve desired results? Just as in Matthew Sanford’s quote, we need to use communication and imagination to inspire better results. Solutions are within our grasp but the conversations that facilitate these solutions are different.
Today, one conclusion is clear: we cannot expect better (or even the same) results if you continue to do things the way you have always done them. With ever-changing technology, rising costs, a troubled economy and a more competitive landscape – these factors are forcing change. Visibility of the impacts/ results needs to improve. Some of these results could be:
- Increased attraction/ retention (in terms of clients, patients, faculty, staff, customers, etc.),
- Greater levels of reimbursement (by means of reducing the number of unreimburseable costs and undesirable outcomes)
- Lower overall cost of ownership through preventing or warranting equipment failure or breakdowns
- Ease of adjusting to future needs (less downtime/turnaround time, less risk due to human factors, ability to deal with constantly changing unknowns, etc.).
- Improve efficiency and excellence
Many of these scenarios are measured on cost-benefit analysis or savings based on what will not need to be spent. For example, it is now appropriate to change the phrasing from “Infection Control” to “Infection Prevention” in Healthcare settings. This change was motivated to transition Healthcare Administrators to recognize infection prevention as a contributor to the bottom line through prevention of infections – rather than a cost center to the hospital. What word do we need to change to make this same transition happen in terms of facilities? What word will show how your facility is an investment in outcomes/results?
Choosing the right products for your facility requires a transition in thinking, communication and a new level of commitment to excellence.
Problem: Swiss Cheese Wall
The Problem: “Swiss Cheese Wall” is created from common changes to vendor packaging for sanitizers, etc. These holes create potential problems with infection prevention and maintenance. Usually results in costly fixes to the walls.
Solution: Lifespan Rail
Lifespan Equipment Rail provides a simple, modular solution.
Swoop: New Herman Miller Lounge Seating collection
December 1, 2010
Swoop is a new lounge seating collection by Herman Miller. Brian Kane was selected to design the new collection. Known for furnishing airports, banks and hotels, Kane’s received over 80 design awards and his designs have been exhibited at the Whitney and Brooklyn Museums in New York and the Museum of Modern art in San Francisco.
Swoop Lounge Collection
Totally modular and flexible, Swoop was designed to fit how you sit, work in many furnishing applications and plug into collaboration and technology.
Swoop was designed with molded plywood curves to allow for total end user comfort. The user can sit upright, lean comfortably, lay down or put their feet up. The furniture was designed to support work, rest or play.
Swoop Lounge Furniture
The sweeping curves of the modular components allow for many applications: offices, collaborative areas, informal learning settings, conference environments and waiting areas. The applications can be formal or casual. Swoop is perfect for Education, Government, Corporate, Law and Healthcare environments.
The lounge seating incorporates tables into the line. There are freestanding tables that can double as seating. There are chairs that make up a sofa, but order a powered same-height table in place of one of the chairs so the end users can plug in. There are short, powered tables that can be clustered together for an informal seating area. These tables can also double as ottomans.
Herman Miller Compass System and Infection Prevention
October 26, 2010
- Designed for Infection Prevention: Utilizing the Capillary Effect
You know by now that Herman Miller’s Compass System allows for flexible Healthcare environments through modularity. You also know that the intelligent infrastructure accommodates Healthcare’s utility needs. But did you know that Compass could possibly save lives? Well, that is a little over the top… Here’s what we mean:
Compass is completely cleanable. It is designed to withstand the harsh sanitizers that are important to the Healthcare industry. One of the biggest reasons to be interested in Compass is the amazing infection prevention capability of the entire system. Yes, it is cleanable – but it goes beyond clean. It is designed to prevent infection and control spills.
- Angled Faucet and Offset Drain to Minimize Splash Back
With the recent reimbursement changes for inpatient acquired illnesses, many of Compass’s details can save hospitals big bucks. A shingled seam between horizontal tiles and components prevents spills from seeping into gaps and eliminates the spread of infection. The tiles and components are wrapped in a virtually PVC-free material, Durawrap, that requires no edge banding – resulting in a seamless surface that is cleanable and durable. Spilled fluids are kept from seeping into the drawers below by a surface priority edge design that has a radius and back cut. Corian surfaces are cleanable, impervious to liquids and resistant to staining.
Compass does all this while remaining appealing. It is available in wood-grain and solid finishes. There are many material and finish options for storage pulls, supports and brackets. The pulls are made of materials that cushion the impact when bumped into – reducing pain and bruising to busy Caregivers. It also comes with Herman Miller’s 12 year, 3-shift warranty.
Compass is a product that needs to be experienced to fully grasp. We have a display in our Plymouth showroom. We will have a display on site at the MN Convention Center for the AIA Convention November 2-4. We welcome you to navigate over to our booth #351 and see what all the buzz is about.
For more informaion, email us at betterwaystowork@intereum.com
Better Ways to Work for TN Marketing: A DIRTT Success Story
October 19, 2010
- DIRTT Private Offices and Viewing Room
TN Marketing is a creative marketing firm in Plymouth, MN. TN Marketing, Intereum and DIRTT partnered to create a beautiful, crisp space that enhances, supports TN Marketing’s creative environment. Cal Franklin, the President and CEO of TN Marketing, invited us in for a look around their office. We are delighted by the installation!
- DIRTT Office with Double Sliding Barn Doors
There are many private offices and a viewing room upstairs. Hanging televisions and office furniture off the walls really puts the walls to work. Instead of using tackable surfaces, TN Marketing chose to use magnetic back-painted glass – also allowing for an extra pop of color.
- Conference Area in DIRTT Office with Herman Miller Embody Chairs
Choosing DIRTT really shows environmental and financial savvy. The use of DIRTT means that there will be less trash in the landfills up front and over time. The walls will depreciate over seven years. Since TN Marketing owns the walls, they can take the walls with them if they move. Purchasing DIRTT walls really shows that TN Marketing can adapt to change and can keep their business as flexible as it needs to be without being constrained by permanent walls.
- DIRTT Barn Door
While standing in Cal’s beautiful office with etched glass and Herman Miller Embody chairs gathered in a conference area, we could really see the visual intention for the space. TN Marketing chose to use a lot of glass with bright color accents. The space flows with the abundance of natural light. Cal remarked that he was able to really understand the options and get ideas from his visit to DIRTT’s Chicago Showroom.
For more information on this installation or to learn more about your space and DIRTT, contact us at betterwaystowork@intereum.com – feel free to stop by our Plymouth Showroom where we have DIRTT in action!
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