Photo: Stefan Hester
Impromptu meeting spaces allow employees to collaborate on proje…
Schuler Shook / Chicago / www.schulershook.com
Schuler Shook has been at itscurrent location since 2001. As the third space since the firm was founded, principal Robert Shook says something they added to the current office is more meeting areas, both informal and formal. Principal Jim Baney explains that the office is designed to foster interaction as the lighting designers work in teams of two, with each team’s work area connected by a central drawing storage rack and integrated work surface. By typical open office standards, according to Shook, the designers’ workstations are large, allowing space to spread out and store drawings, in addition to giving designers quick access to documents when a client calls about a project. Everyone at the firm, including the partners, has an open office because “we consider it valuable for anyone to be able to listen to his or her colleagues,” Shook says. “We learn from each other.” The open office space primarily is illuminated by fluorescent and ceramic metal halide sources, and its lighting design is energy efficient, using 1.1 watts per square foot.
