Prompted by Travis Bradshaw’s recent response to Jesse Greenwald’s post about office spaces and design, I started thinking about what my chances are of ending up in an environment like that instead of a cube farm or prison like I’ve had the pleasures of working in thus far.
I’ve often been heard complaining recently about how little work I get done in Nichols Hall, and I attribute this directly to the building’s design. I feel out of place and uncomfortable when I walk down a narrow hallway to an office with a window that I can’t even see out of (it’s roughly 6 feet above the floor and recessed 2 feet into the wall). Then there’s the 1×7 foot window adjacent to my door which allows anybody walking down or standing in the hallway to observe my every action. Be the rat. Be the rat. Be the rat. Then there are the walls; as Jesse put it, they’re “painted the most putrid shade of ‘tope”. I also have the pleasure of sharing a ~100 sq. ft. office with somebody else. Yup, I get a whole 50 of those to myself. If Andy wasn’t so darn cool I’d be forced to shoot myself. 
And my last rant for now is about our door that the fire marshall rules must remain closed at all times. Because, you know, someone might wander into this little hell-hole during a fire and think it was an exit. I think not.
This got me started thinking about some “What if…?” questions. What if some people from K-State got together to start a software engineering company. I’ve met some really cool guys here, and surely we’d come up with a decent office design. After experiencing Nichols Hall, we’d know exactly what not to do. But I’m sure that something like this probably won’t happen so I should just stop my thoughts there before I get my hopes up too much.
Yeah! That’s a cool idea.
Though, I think one of the keys for a good office design is working with a great architect. Not that I don’t think that we could get together and really make something cool, but I don’t think that the expertise of a professional can be overlooked.
And I totally agree that there is more than enough talent with our friends here in Nichols to start some kind of software engineering company. However, just talent isn’t really enough to start a company, so I agree that it probably won’t happen. It’s all about having that great idea and executing it with the right timing.
Anyway, I agree.
And while we’re just dreaming, too bad we can’t get some kind of mini-building construction project to renovate like one floor of Nichols and take it over.
This entire building could use an overhaul, but I’d love to take a chunk of it and make a little paradise for us.
Travis Bradshaw
July 15th, 2005