辦公室吉事： 與工作玩遊戲 才是致勝之道｜GUTS IN THE OFFICE: Work and Play build winning teams!
在地少人多、連住屋問題也長年無法解決的香港，談玩樂空間或許太奢侈，但要是我們了解玩樂對於人們身心健康、對於社會發展甚至經濟發展有多重要，或許你會理解，為什麼全球有愈來愈多專業人士如建築師、科技巨擘都把他們的辦公室打造得猶如遊樂場般，不止因為這種形象包裝更容易吸引人才，最重要是這些設計成本不高，而員工身處其中其實並不會樂極忘形、玩物喪志，反而能提高創造力與生產力！
早在約10年前，辦公室總是沉悶死板的印象，已開始被初創公司打破了，不少初創公司開始在辦公室加入玩樂元素，目的當然不是純粹因為老闆愛玩，而是他們相信輕鬆好玩的辦公室，可以刺激員工的創作力，當中Google與Facebook可算是把這種設計發揚光大的企業：例如在2011年，Google位於倫敦的辦公室，把小型會議室、單人工作室等設計成海灘小木屋、英國電話亭、巨大骰盅等，用色大膽鮮艷，踏進辦公室猶如進入了遊樂場；同年，Microsoft也在維也納的辦公室安裝了一條滑梯。
逐漸，這種寓工作於玩樂的辦公室設計，不止在講求創意的行業出現。例如歐洲的網絡博彩公司Catena Media的塞爾維亞辦公室，一走入門口就是整幅牆大小的磁力板，配合色彩繽紛的磁貼，可以隨意砌出各式圖案。再走多幾步，來到辦公室走廊，往上一躍就可挑戰天花板上的monkey bars，或者坐到旁邊的鞦韆上晃一晃，刺激一下大腦的前庭感覺系統。員工還可以走到休息室推一下幸運之輪，或者在乒乓球枱上來一場比賽，活動一下筋骨。
除了把辦公室變成遊樂場，德國的足球資訊公司Onefootball總部，則嘗試把辦公室變成球場﹗2014年，Onefootball把德國柏林的一座廢棄工廠改造成辦公室，他們在會議室地板鋪上綠油油的仿草皮，又把走廊化成跑道，同事可以隨時腳上帶球，沿著跑道走到末端的龍門前，起腳一射。
不但是歐美地區的辦公室玩得精彩，泰國Inteltion IT資訊科技顧問公司，把辦公室打造成健身房的模樣。明亮舒適的木質loft氛圍下，只在天花加入顏色統一卻又多樣化的白色鐵管，就成為鍛練臂力的單槓攀爬架、吊環、拳擊沙包等。還有隨時可變身為乒乓球枱的會議桌，桌頂的吊燈裝置收納了大量乒乓球，旁邊牆壁的乒乓球裝飾則用作比賽計分。開會有想不通的難題？先來局乒乓球賽吧！
在香港民間，近年亦出現愈來愈多設計上比較好玩的辦公室，尤其在不少共享工作空間（Co-working Space），用色和間格也開始擺脫傳統辦公室的感覺。而我們從一些國際學校，也看到它們的室外空門如操場，嘗試打破傳統劃一的設計。2018年啟用的法國國際學校將軍澳校舍，就有一條400米長、名為 「The Loop」的跑步徑，在校園間蜿蜒而行。而七彩的體育館外牆，由627個彩色磚拼砌而成，還應用了brise-soleil深窗戶設計，既有遮蔽直射的陽光、令室內光線更自然均勻的功能，在當陽光間接地穿過窗戶映入體育館時，更在室內營造幻彩的視覺效果，讓建築物的室內也能「與陽光玩遊戲」！
相片來源：網上圖片
地點 :倫敦、維也納、塞爾維亞、柏林、泰國、香港
In Hong Kong, the city of urban land scarcity and overpopulation, we don't even have enough land for housing, not to mention for playing. But ‘play’ does play a significant role in promoting mental and physical health, and economic and social development. This explains why more and more architects, tech tycoons and other professionals would spice up workspace with fun elements. This doesn't just build a better employer brand; it is an affordable way to boost creativity and productivity.
Rewind to about a decade ago, many start-ups broke the dull image of what an office was like by adding many playful elements in their workspace. While it certainly satisfies fun-loving founders, but the real purpose is to create a relaxing and fun environment where creativity flourishes.
Google and Facebook are the game-changers behind this phenomenon. In 2011, Google's London headquarters turned their small meeting rooms and single-person studios into beach cabins, telephone booths and life-size dice cups in uplifting colours. In the same year, Microsoft built a slide in their office in Vienna.
Gradually, this idea of building playful offices expanded beyond the creative industry. In their Serbian office, European online gaming company Catena Media covered a wall at the office entrance with an oversized magnetic board, with colourful tiles in store for anyone to play with and create various patterns. A few steps into the office corridor, one will be met with monkey bars on the ceiling and a swing nearby to stimulate the brain's vestibular sensory system. Employees can also go to the lounge to push the wheel of fortune or play a game at the ping-pong table to stretch their muscles.
While some offices have become playgrounds, some go beyond that – Onefootball, which prides itself on a stadium-like office, is a case in point. In 2014, the German football intelligence company conquered an abandoned factory in Berlin, where artificial grass covered the conference room floor, and a corridor was turned into a runway. At any moment, one of the employees would lead a ball through the runway and shoot it to the gantry at the other end.
Not only creative minds in the West are blessed with such a privilege. People from Inteltion IT, an IT consultancy in Thailand, also work and ‘work out’ under the same roof. In the gym room/office, white iron pipes are hung from the woody loft ceiling to provide employees with horizontal climbing frames, rings, and boxing punch bags for spontaneous arm stretch training. The conference table can be quickly transformed into a ping-pong table, above which the chandelier provides storage for ping-pong balls, and the table tennis decoration on the wall next to it is a scoreboard—stuck with a problem during a meeting? Let's have a game first.
Hong Kong has seen more exciting office designs in recent years, and many co-working spaces replace traditional office layouts with vibrant colours and playful compartments. Some international schools even adopt unconventional playground designs for their outdoor space. Opened in 2018, the French International School Tseung Kwan O has a 400-metre running trail named 'the Loop' that winds through the campus. The kaleidoscopic gymnasium's exterior wall strikes with 627 colourful bricks and a brise-soleil window design – an intelligent design to shield direct sunlight and invite natural light into space. As the sunlight goes through the windows and enters the gymnasium, it lights up the area with iridescent hues so that the students can have fun with sunlight.
Photo source: Internet
Location: London, Vienna, Serbia, Berlin, Thailand, Hong Kong
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