A Symphony of Sounds in a Creative Hub
“How did you enter?” Brandon Sprague’s voice fills the air, harmonizing with the rhythm of keystrokes and Jimi Hendrix tunes echoing inside the loft of BOORA Architecture in Portland, Oregon.
BOORA, established in 1958 with a dedication to sustainable and avant-garde design, now hosts Sprague, the public relations liaison, sparking conversations on the eighth floor of the Morgan Building.
His words bounce off the intentionally bare white walls, crafted to frame the vibrant cityscape seen through the windows.
Today, the sun gifts ample light, but when natural light diminishes, sensors activate artificial illumination to maintain a steady color temperature.
Transformation for Collaboration
Had Sprague asked his question before BOORA’s remodel, accomplished in early 2008, his words would have echoed within a labyrinth of private offices and plastered workspaces.
The redesign sought to create a more collaborative creative office space design by eliminating private offices and diminishing physical barriers between individuals.
In this innovative commercial hub, sounds drift freely across the massive 24,915 square foot office. Denise Fornberg refers to this phenomenon as the echo effect of collaborative eavesdropping. She maintains that it fuels inventive outcomes, even as Sprague’s voice continues to reverberate throughout the creative space.
If his words traced the path of the Form and Structure credenza wrapping the office’s boundary, Marissa Czerniejewski, seated at a MADE studio oak desk adjacent to the library, would be all ears. “You catch everything,” Czerniejewski declares.
Assuming Sprague’s query slipped past the translucent curtain behind Czerniejewki and trailed along the 700-foot credenza lining each employee’s desk, Fornberg might have caught it amidst the squeak of her desk’s wheels grazing over the grey InterfaceFLOR carpet as she “reconfigures” her flex space.
Desks are strategically located near the credenza; with all office furniture being movable, no one is bound to a fixed location. Each workspace is adjustable to individual and team needs, though most favor the proximity to natural light and ventilation near the windows.
An Environment Ripe for Creativity
As long as Fornberg heard the question, so did principal Pat Harrington, seated adjacent to her and a glass MK Guth sculpture adorned with a model of Mrs. Butterworth’s bottle. The question could have ricocheted off the nearby Allermuir lounge chairs or the Burnhardt sofa in the casual den, perhaps even brushing the model of the new 11-building Knight Management Center at Stanford University that BOORA is designing.
The Power of Collaborative Eavesdropping
Bypassing the quiet rooms and meeting spaces, the sound waves of Sprague’s voice may have converged with the chatter of employees lounging on Brayton ottomans in the design lab beyond the pivoting tack-panel walls. This lab is a creative space for people to assemble, engage in a round of ping-pong, or attend monthly lunchtime lectures on sustainability.
Today, if any of these employees caught Sprague’s question while savoring their coffee and leafing through The New York Times, it could vouch for collaborative eavesdropping as a potent tool for learning.
Sprague turns to me, awaiting an answer. “The doors were open,” I respond.