office building
Office buildings (including office buildings ) now shape large parts of the built environment. They mainly contain jobs for people who develop, acquire, interpret, transfer, disseminate and secure information and knowledge . Originally they mainly served purely administrative tasks, but are increasingly also centers for management activities (ministries, corporate headquarters) and production facilities for services of all kinds (employment offices, banks, call centers, research institutes, design offices, town halls, software developers, publishing houses, insurance companies, advertising agencies).
history
In the 16th century, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence was probably the first building that was to be used exclusively for private administrative purposes. The architectural concept (Ufficio = office), a line-shaped structure with long corridors lined with workrooms, is still characteristic of the office architecture today, although the original has been used as an art museum since its completion in 1581.
development
In addition to the classic line shape, other building types have been developed to meet the need for office buildings that has grown in the last century. Motors of this development:
- technical innovations , such as the invention of the elevator (1853), which made taller buildings possible, steel frame construction (1884) and reinforced concrete construction (1905), through which constructional limits were overcome and flexible structures possible, fluorescent tubes (1938) and air conditioning (1911) the areas could be used without external reference
- functional requirements , from the introduction of modern forms of work organization (processing to problem solving in teams) and the development of information technology (from the data center to the PC)
- new structural models for the spatial organization of work processes (see office concepts )
- Occupational health and safety laws that define minimum standards for health and well-being and thus influence architecture
- economic necessities : maximizing the use of land and price competition in the office space market
- ecological aspects : resource conservation and the cap on CO 2 emissions per square meter of office space, which has already been introduced in some countries .
Office building types
Most office buildings can be assigned to one of six building types, which not only differ in their suitability for different locations and their use of the property, but also in their usefulness:
- Central access to simplify security and orientation
- Internal development : short distances without disturbing through traffic
- Neighborhood that allows a flexible grouping of areas
- Space efficiency : ratio of usable area to total area
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literature
- Johann Eisele / Bettina Staniek (eds.): Bürobau Atlas , Callwey Verlag, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-7667-1649-2 .
Web links
- Office building. In: arch INFORM . (List of architecturally significant examples)