Why Shiny New Tech Companies Love Old Industrial Buildings

It’s fascinating that the quotes supporting the idea of open plan offices all come from executives or people seeming to have a public relations role. Take this for example.

> “ A loft is “a more collaborative atmosphere, and that’s the kind of creative space we want to build,” said Alan Harker, chief financial officer for VaynerX, the parent company of VaynerMedia. “It encourages people to get together.””

It’s egregiously wrong, perhaps even to a physically dangerous and negligent degree. But it’s quoted with such certainty from an executive that it rolls past the eyes and almost feels like evidence instead of the reality, a sound bite from an executive who utterly knows nothing about what knowledge workers need in a physical space.

The whole piece feels almost like sponsored content to try to promote the utterly failed concept of open plan offices, since executives plan to enforce them despite the very real physical and cognitive harm they do to workers and the reduction of productivity that more than negates any real estate savings or employee density stats.