Meet 2024 Next Work Environment Competition Pick a Problem category student winners: Mara Wasserman, Brayden Kirk and Hobey Stanton and their Collaboration Station submission.
Keep up with what’s next for Mara, Brayden and Hobey on LinkedIn!
Brayden Kirk
Hobey Stanton
Mara Wasserman
Check out the slideshow and summary of the submission below:
Collaboration Station
The Collaboration Station offers a new outlook on what we know as working in a hybrid environment. With endless variations to submerge ourselves within our favorite communities, workers can now choose where they want to work and what setting best suites their occupational needs.
In the United States, workers have long commutes to their jobs every day. On average, they have a commute of around thirty minutes one way, equating to almost an hour lost traveling to and from their workplace. This has created a burdensome lifestyle, where it is difficult to get the most out of the day and develop a good work/life balance. After the pandemic, the opportunity to work remotely was the new norm, with over three-fourths of workers electing to work either fully remote or hybrid. While this has seen its benefits, remote workers also face challenges like social isolation, separating work and personal life, and effective communication between coworkers. Workers in this new era are forced to decide whether a tenuous commute to work is worth the social benefits or if having the flexibility to work at home is more important.
Our solution, Collaboration Station, has created an environment where workers don’t have to make that decision. Collaboration Station is a modular, community-focused, mobile coworking space that provides workers with an opportunity to find a balance between long commutes and the social benefits of going into an office. These modules are easily transportable and can be placed in various locations, allowing for flexible and dynamic workplace environments.
With a forward-thinking approach, this solution uses underutilized spaces within communities and also provides an alternative to lengthy car commutes. By doing so, workers are able to skip frustrating lines of traffic on the freeway with a bikeable and walkable co-working solution for workers without giving up the collaboration opportunities typically seen in an office. This localized approach supports community engagement, local business, and social interaction.
Collaboration Station is made up of 3 dynamic pods: co-working, collaboration, and engagement. The co-working pod is for heads-down work within a social environment. The collaboration pod promotes sharing ideas and learning from other industries and trades. The engagement pod brings the community into the space. Local entrepreneurs and small businesses can utilize this pod to sell products.
These pods also provide an extension to already existing community infrastructure, integrating into the community vs intervening. Placement near local amenities like malls, coffee shops, markets, parks, libraries, or festivals allows for a vibrant landscape surrounding the workplace. Intentionally engaging with the local sphere will help foster a sense of belonging for workers in their community and provide the social interactions that are lost while remotely working.
These pods can be configured based on the needs and landscape of the location. Each pod is also capable of switching out wall panels to adapt to differing site conditions, safety requirements, and visibility requests.
Collaboration Station has the capacity to adapt to future work conditions through its flexible design. By providing a balance between remote work and the traditional office this solution hopes to build stronger communities, healthier lifestyles, and more flexible work for all.
We connected with the team to see how Collaboration Station has evolved since entering the competition:
The concept of Collaboration Station is centered upon integrating into the communities the workspaces serve. While the three current modules can be configured and adapted to the various communities they engage with, there is still a rigidness to their placement.
Blending these modules into their environment through outdoor elements would be the next step toward successfully using our proposal.
Within the modular system, a fourth outdoor-focused module, The Pavilion, will allow users to seamlessly connect with the community. Outdoor seating, planters, and shading devices that are built into the system would provide comfortable and usable outdoor space that is underutilized.
The Pavilion will invite interaction within spaces that community members don’t typically go to. By providing an outdoor space,Collaboration Station welcomes newcomers into the workspaces by creating a friendly environment in which to greet them.
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Special thanks to our 2024 Innovative Brand Partners:
