Have You Chosen the Right Office Building? New Standards Are Coming!

This post is sponsored by POSCO.

What counts as a good office building? The standards vary in different periods. Apart from the basic measurements such as the location, facilities, quality and property management, soft indicators including comfort, humanization, greening and environmental protection have been considered by people and become next generation standards for office buildings.

Office experience matters
Due to the short history of office buildings in China, a unified comprehensive assessment system of office buildings has not been established yet. Several hard standards, which are acknowledged in the office building industry, however, remain to be the mainstream beauty standards of the industry.

The appreciation of house property is on account of the appreciation of land.The land of major urban center is of strong scarcity, and possesses exceptional advantages in location resources, which enables it to gather crowds, materials, information and capital. Because of this, the land becomes a magnet for people and fortunes. The location, therefore, is the primary standard for office buildings.

The quality of office buildings is of crucial importance. This huge system covers all respects in the office buildings such as elevators, air conditioners, electric power, lighting, ventilation and drainage, relating to the aspects of planning, construction, materials, technology, management and property management.
 
An essential element of a good office building is the traffic convenience. To be specific,whether the public transportation system around the project is developed, complete and smooth? Whether the office building provides parking lots of sufficient space?

Property management also determines the appreciation prospect of the office building. Precise, secure, careful, considerate and fast property services improve work efficiency of the settled enterprises.

In spite of our discussion on the above tangible standards, an intangible sensual experience, however, has determined our opinions on an office building. “I feel comfortable working here with fresh air, comfort temperature, convenient traffic …”Such subtle feelings seem to have the least bit of difference but make the good ones stand out.

Humanization counts as a new standard
It is undeniable that people evaluate an office building with more and more soft indicators. Such indicators covering comfort, humanization, greening, environmental protection and intelligence have been included in the standards of office buildings.
Human-oriented office buildings focus on the behaviors and psychological feelings of the settled staff. These buildings not only create a healthy and comfortable working environment but also enable the settled staff to enjoy the fun and joy in utilizing the space. The harmony between humans and space is thus achieved. Therefore, problems of “insufficient dining space and elevators” that have troubled many office buildings at present have been solved, relieving numerous inconveniences brought to the settled staff to promote their work efficiency and to lift their mood.

In urban centers full of tall buildings, the green office has become the business theme. The business value of office buildings adjacent to parks increases exponentially as the working staff in such buildings can enjoy a broad view of greens through office windows as well as be in a good mood, and their desire of access to fresh air in working can be satisfied.

The POSCO Center distinguishes itself according to the new standards of office buildings. Apart from an inherent advantage of being adjacent to Dawangjing Park, the POSCO Center also plans as much landscape green space as possible within limited land. Sunken gardens and roof gardens are highlights of the humanized design. Such design provides office staff space to get close to nature, conduct communication and have a rest, promoting the superiority of the working environment. In addition, it adds an environmental and green space image to the entire architectural complex.

The POSCO Center not only possesses the basic functions of office buildings but also is equipped with the functions of conferences, business and catering. From a humane perspective, it specially offers fitness centers, food courts, 5A (Building Automation, Communication Automation, Office Automation System, Fire Automation and Management Automation) intelligent video conferences, multi-functional auditorium, bicycle garages and personal business space to provide the settled staff with convenience.

Who will establish the ultimate standards?
Standards are the basis on which things are evaluated. The emergence of innovative and prospective office buildings has driven the upgrading of the standards. To follow the standards or to lead and establish new standards by breaking the old ones? This determines the value of the office buildings.

The emergence of high-quality and innovative office buildings in recent years in Beijing office market has established new standards for the whole industry.Take the POSCO Center for example. It has broken away from the traditional spatial pattern of “offices plus public corridors”, and advanced the transition of office space from enclosure to openness and interactions, thus working efficiency can be improved with more exchanges and communications. Meanwhile, the POSCO Center has adopted Chinese three-star authentication technology of green buildings, which is the highest-level authentication in assessment standards of Chinese green buildings. Additionally, the harmony and unity among humanity, architecture and environment has been achieved in the POSCO Center by the application of geothermal and radiation energy-efficient systems and green advanced technologies including rainwater collection, green building materials and ecology landscape.

The POSCO Center is undoubtedly the forerunner in the office building industry regarding humanized design and consideration to comfort. By its innovation and practice, the POSCO Center has played an exemplary role in its creation of new standards for the office building industry.

Images courtesy of POSCO