Brave New Office: Modern Trends in Office Furnishings Balance Individuality, Teamwork. (Office Design).

YESTERDAYS OFFICE HAS disappeared for many Arkansas businesses. In its place is a more modern and natural design that motivates employees to be more productive and comfortable at their work stations.

Across the state, companies are abandoning bulky wooden desks and tall work cubicles in favor of airy environments with curved desks and soft, indirect lighting.

This trend is several years old nationally, but it seems Arkansas is slow to change, said Melody Saenz of Cromwell Interior Design Inc.

"Arkansas has a tendency to be traditional," she said.

As the emphasis on teamwork changes the way Arkansans do business, it also influences the design and layout of employee work areas.

Companies using a teamwork concept must have open workspaces free of communication-blocking walls. They also must have meeting areas --not necessarily conference rooms, but areas in which teams can meet and brainstorm. These rooms may include a dry-erase board or writing tablets to facilitate collaboration.

This concept also influences where employee work stations are placed as well as the layout of the entire office. Saenz said many companies are relocating their staffs from multiple-story buildings to a single floor, allowing for better interaction.

Businesses also have learned that employee recruitment, retention and productivity are linked to the work environment, "because people spend as much time at the office as they do at home," Saenz said. By modernizing these areas, employers encourage their workers to stay longer, she said.

But spicing up the workplace doesn't have to mean complete renovation. Sometimes all it takes is the addition of a few plants, paintings, lamps -- "those things that make it less officey and more like a home," Saenz said.

Heavy cherry desks always will be a factor in offices, she said, but companies increasingly are moving to contemporary desks that conform to the human body. Modern desks are curved instead of straight, although some still include a credenza.

Nature has been brought indoors with miniature water fountains and greenery around the work station, and 90-degree angles have become taboo. Instead, companies opt for the more natural, organic angles that are associated with many modular furniture setups, Saenz said.

So Long, Cubes

Rows of cubicles are passe. Teams need to be situated near each other, and this is accomplished by placing cubicles in a honeycomb pattern. Employees of one group may sit together, separated from another team by a short cubicle screen.

Connectivity requires hidden wiring and cables as well as open space. Increasingly, companies are installing raised flooring that allows technicians to repair or reroute wires without disrupting the entire office.

Keeley Claude, a design project manager for Today's Office in Little Rock, said the biggest trend in design is the shift of control from management to individual employees. Modern designs acknowledge the individuality of employees, allowing them to control their personal work spaces, including the height of the desks, placement of keyboards and lighting.

While businesses often retain one formal conference room, efforts are made to include less formal meeting areas furnished with lounge chairs and couches to encourage free thinking, Claude said.

In the new century, there has also been a push for more ecologically sound furniture, she said. Called "green design," several manufacturers have begun offering office furniture made with recycled materials and environmentally safe chemicals.

Rusty Matchett, president of LaHarpe's Office Furniture, doesn't think Arkansans are being trendy as much as practical. They are trying to personalize their office spaces while making the most of available space and budgetary constraints, he said.

Matchett tells his clients to expect to spend about $3,000 per cubicle work station, including the chair and storage space. The cubicles allow work stations to be moved without the hassle of rewiring the entire area.

Local Trendsetters

Another trend Saenz has seen within the last few years is the relocation of businesses to the downtown River Market area. Several companies have refurbished old buildings to meet their needs. Warehouses can be especially well-adapted to create open spaces for workstations, but moving may be a prohibitively expensive choice for many companies, Saenz said.

But not all new looks require moves so drastic.

I-K Electric of Little Rock has been in its building for 60 years, and instead of starting over or knocking down walls, president Scott Korenblat opted to give the area a "face-lift."

It took six months to paint and replace the furniture and flooring at the 214 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive location, which houses 25 employees. But the time a money (which Korenblat wouldn't disclose) were well worth it, he said.

Korenblat wanted to make the building more user-friendly, efficient and comfortable for his work force. And it seems to be working, he said.

Employees seem to have better attitudes, and it's easier to recruit new hires. The biggest challenge for the communication contracting and electric network services company was working around the employees during the process. Productivity suffered somewhat, Korenblat admitted, but scheduling around employee work hours helped rectify the problem.

Matt Olson, president of Matmon Internet Solutions, chose a similar face-lift approach. When the company moved to 303 W. Capitol Ave., Suite 150, Olson knew the space needed to be improved, so he got rid of heavy desks and the bright lights that created a glare on computer screens. Cubicles were installed, and a coat of blue paint made the room seem fresh and exciting.

Now, modular furniture with canopies dot the work area, while larger workstations allow for two monitors on each desk.

Olson said his company has spent about $30,000 renovating the space, but it has been worth it. The face-lift was done partially to impress present and potential clients by "giving us style and separating us from other companies," he said.

Apparently, that's the name of the game.

Melvin Edwards, vice president for administrative services at Bank of the Ozarks, said when the bank renovated its headquarters building at 12615 Chenal Parkway in 1998, its main goal was to be different from other financial institutions. The bank chose a high-contrast theme -- black enamel and light maple woods -- to create a contemporary but solid design, he said.

Interior designer Jill Lawrence of J. Lawrence Design suggested hanging black-and-white photographs of local points of interest to help define Bank of the Ozarks as a hometown bank for local people. The pictures were taken by Dr. J.P. Bell of Fort Smith, Edwards said.

The photos are comforting to traditional customers who may be intimidated by the otherwise stark decor, Lawrence said.

The biggest difference between Bank of the Ozarks and traditional banks, Edwards said, was the openness of the design. Its branch banks have few walls, allowing tellers to make eye contact with customers as they enter the 40,000-SF building.

Edwards said Bank of the Ozarks branches will be decorated using the same style, which is expected to cost $35,00-$40,000 for smaller branches.