Today in tasks that someone’s gotta do: being flown (business class, mind you) to every capital city in the country to critique the ‘fun factor’ of each of the company’s state offices. Why this was assigned to me, I can’t say. It seems like a bit of a filler activity – just a fairly costly one that also happens to be quite luxuriant and undemanding for the person doing it.
Anyway, that’s how I’ve wound up in this hotel spa, musing on the relative merits of a rock climbing wall over a UV-reactive zone expressly set aside for playing giant Jenga. I’m not required to take into account spatial functionality, feasibility or expense in my reviews – in fact, I’ve been advised that it’s all about letting my imagination run wild and untrammelled.
I’ve been thinking that criteria differ from office to office when it comes to dreaming up the ideal high end commercial fitout. Sydney, for example, is all about being on trend on all levels, and that includes this so-called ‘fun factor’. No mere pool tables or funky paint jobs will do. There needs to be something that no one has thought of before, like a barefoot reflexology walkway or a ceiling-mounted coffee delivery chute that plays classic 8-bit game themes as it shuttles your cup to your desk.
That’s my current view, anyway. I’m no expert on this – like I said, I can’t say why this job was assigned to me. Maybe it’s because I’m your garden variety employee, which I guess gives me a certain take on office design ideas. Sydney has been a good time, anyway, and I’m not asking too many questions lest the Brisbane leg of my trip be thrown into question. I’m assuming that the hotel I’m provided with will be as good as this one in every city.
In some ways, a luxury business hotel could be considered the height of ‘fun factor’. Some might disagree, but I can’t go past a nice pool and gym, room service and a comfortable suite all to myself. Now, how could those elements translate to an office environment, do you think?