Wearables in the garden office workplace

The use of wearables in the workplace is not developing because of a lack of trust as people worry that their employer may use the data against them and not for their benefit, according to new PwC research.

Workers who would be happy to use a wearable device at work are most likely to want to trade their personal data in exchange for flexible working hours, free health screening and health and fitness incentives. Two thirds of respondents want their employer to help them to become more active.

The younger generation of millennial workers are the most comfortable sharing their personal data. Despite privacy concerns, six in 10 would be happy to use a work-supplied smartwatch and this rises to seven in 10 if they’re getting a better work deal in return. This compares to only three in 10 of workers aged 55 and over.

Technology such as a virtual reality headset, that doesn’t require the sharing of personal information but does offer benefits to workers such as facilitating collaboration whilst working from home, would be attractive to almost half of the workforce and six out of ten millennials.

Overall, only 46% of people surveyed say they would accept a free piece of wearable technology if their employers had access to the data recorded.

Even if this information is collected in exchange for workplace benefits, such as flexible working hours and working from different locations, the number of people who would use a wearable device at work rises to only just over half.

“Despite more people owning wearable devices, many people are still reluctant to use them in the workplace due to trust issues. Employers haven’t been able to overcome the ‘big brother’ reaction from people to sharing their personal data. Digital tools and analytics advances could be the key to unlocking a more engaged, happy and higher performing workforce - but first employers must gain the trust and confidence of their people to acquire, store and use personal data appropriately. If employers want to overcome the trust gap they need to show that they are serious about data security and communicate openly with their staff about the benefits for them.” 

Anthony Bruce, people analytics leader at PwC

Data privacy is the main barrier for those workers unwilling to share their information. Four in 10 say they don’t fully trust their employer to use it for their benefit and just over a third say they don’t trust their employer not to use the data against them in some way. Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.

Rooftop shedworking in Germany

An old gondola used on the roof of an office in Munich as a breakout space. Spotted by Dan Jenkins. --------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.

Log cabin home cinema

Awardwinning film audio expert David Crozier (The Hours, Harry Potter, Mission: Impossible) has built a remarkable home cinema - designed by Anders Uggelberg and Gerben Van Duyl - in a Norwegian Log Buildings log cabin in his Amersham garden. The build took three weeks.

Put together with the help of home movie specialists Pulse Cinemas, the garden office cinema features a top notch Procella loudspeaker system, Runco projector, and luxurious D-Box Motion Code Cinema Seating. There are more technical details about the install including soundproofing in Essential Install magazine (pdf) for anybody considering something similar.

 “I wanted a viewing theatre away from the main house," he told Homes & Property. "At times the small cypress tree outside gently quivers with the enormity of bass. My village friends still seem to be speaking to me so I guess the sound isn’t travelling much further.”
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Friday posts are sponsored by Warwick Buildings, manufacturers of outstanding quality timber buildings. Click here for more information.

Jean Prouvé's demountable office

An excellent piece in Slate by Kristin Hohenadel (where there are lots of photos) looks at the intriguing garden office designed by Jean Prouvé. Prouvé was a 20th-century pioneer of innovative furniture and architecture, known in particular for his assembly systems for hardwearing structures which meant that buildings could be eailly dismantled, moved about and modified.

For the last 25 years, Galerie Patrick Seguin has been campaigning for recognition for Jean Prouvé’s demountable buildings - it has 23 - and his 1948 Maxéville Design Office where he worked on his designs is now on show at Design Miami in Basel until Sunday. Here's a video of it being re-assembled.
Jean Prouvé Bureau d'études Maxéville Design Office, 1948 from Galerie Patrick Seguin on Vimeo.

Here's what Galerie Patric Seguin says about it:

Intended as a demonstration model that would convince the public of the virtues of prefabricated housing, this was a copybook model: the use of the structural axial portal provides an open, fluid plan rendered highly adaptable by interchangeable partitions and one-piece glazed or solid facing panels. The house failed to find the success that had been hoped for and it was ultimately set up in 1952 at the Maxéville plant, where it became the Ateliers Jean Prouvé Design Office . After Prouvé’s departure in 1953, following fundamental differences of opinion with the majority shareholder in the Ateliers, the buildings bearing his stamp were demolished or demounted. The only one to remain was the Design Office , whose original panels were cladded over. It subsequently served as the premises for a heating company, a restaurant, and lastly the "Bounty" swingers’ club.

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Thursday posts are sponsored by Cabin Master: garden offices and studios to fit any size garden. Top quality contemporary or traditional buildings.

Spacetwo garden offices

Stockport-based Spacetwo were inspired to build garden offices by the cladding styles of farm buildings in Germany and now work in partnership withGerman wooden home manufacturers Chiemgauer Holzhaus. They use German or Austrian spruce, sustainably grown at high altitude and felled in winter as protection against frost and to increase durability. All the usual features come as standard and they are particularly keen on green roofs.

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Thursday posts are sponsored by Cabin Master: garden offices and studios to fit any size garden. Top quality contemporary or traditional buildings.

Outbox: The rise of the outdoor office

An interesting practical extension of the garden office concept is underway in Silver Spring in Maryland, USA, where development specialist Peterson Companies working with local Montgomery College has set up an outdoor workspace in the busy downtown area for the next few months. Open from 10am to 7pm, it seats 20 people and while it has free wifi, electrical outlets and a roof, is wall-less. So far it is getting heavy use and is often entirely full.



There's an interesting article about the phenomenon at The Washington Post and  Regular readers will remember our look at the Rooftop Workplace of Tomorrow garden at the Chelsea Flower Show a few years ago.

Among others looking into the issue is designer Jonathan Olivares whose Outdoor Office research took a look at what kind of furniture would work well in non-interior offices.

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Vreasy 'Garden Office'

We've grown a lot and in more ways than one - Check out this before and after shot of the Vreasy Garden Office! pic.twitter.com/OJoD7W9uax

— Vreasy (@vreasy) June 13, 2016

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Tuesday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning