Vancity has taken steps to remove barriers and improve accessibility for the hundreds of employees and members who enter their branches daily. Vancity branches in Burnaby Heights and Vancity Centre have received the Accessibility Certified Gold rating under the Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification program.

Distinctive thinking leads to successful workspace design results. Tenant improvements can be challenging and disruptive for employers and their teams. Here are ten considerations to help ensure a successful workspace design project.

The challenge: how to plan a new workspace for ten years out? The result: a flexible, well-appointed office that feels comfortable to clients, with functional and attractive workspace for staff and partners.

The American Society of Interior Designers’ (ASID) ICON magazine explored the issue of designing for confidentiality in this era of open-plan spaces through dialogue with 4 designers including RATIO partner, Christopher Pollard.

Your brand, goals of the business, the type of business, employee profiles, and definition of success all feed into the design of a successful workspace or office. So, how can employers create space that serves the diverse needs of worker demographics and culture while inspiring creative collaboration and productivity? It starts with insights and planning. Read more about RATIO’s approach for result-based workplace design.

As a result of the evidence building around workplace productivity, healthier workplace environments, changing work styles and demographics; and the increasing the cost of real estate, workplace design must take a longer view. Workplace change is a profound adjustment for employees. Companies need a designer who is versed in change management strategies. RATIO’s Distinctive Thinking takes a look at how to achieve the long view with a new workspace design.

CEO’s who intend to optimize a key asset, their workforce, will want to challenge them to be more productive, creative and innovative. To achieve this, workspace design must appeal to three broad categories of well-being; the physical, cognitive and emotional.

How can employers create space that serves the diverse needs of worker demographics and culture while inspiring creative collaboration and productivity? A workspace design plan should offer solutions with clear intent and outcomes.It should address the challenges of the modern office with consideration for the tension between public and private workspace. This means creating space for collaboration while allowing for focused, task-oriented space. Consider how to control visual distraction and accommodate for a diverse workforce including introverts and extraverts. And, your workspace plan should reflect and reinforce your brand values.