The Globus Design Associates Blog

Sustainability Scenarios Have Implications for Libraries

Steelcase invited me to participate in a strategic planning session about the future of sustainability in their New York showroom this week.  We designers were asked to create scenarios.  Scenarios are developed from identifying trends and uncertainties. Sustainability uncertainties include who will hold the influence to drive sustainability and what will be the intensity of interest in the future.

Trends

After we identified trends, I found these especially relevant to libraries:

• the rise of individualism
• pervasive information and ease of access to it
• increasing interest in well being
• sourcing products and services locally 
• the pressure for businesses to innovate to distinguish themselves in the marketplace

Communities of Interest

I reaffirmed my conviction to encourage my firm's public library clients to form communities of interest in sustainability among their library customers.  Public libraries have a wonderful opportunity to provide information resources and educational programming about sustainability and expand their brand of being a valuable resource to their communities.

Sticker Shock - How Designers Help When the Actual Exceeds the Estimated

I checked in with a client to see what responses he was receiving from issuing a request for quotations to fabricate a custom circulation desk for his library and found him surprised at the increase in price from the estimated price of the desk.  Although it doesn't happen frequently, increases can occur and when they do, it's important to understand why.

REASONS FOR INCREASES IN ESTIMATES

1. The estimate was prepared more than a year ago.  Most estimates are valid for 30 days.

2. The design changed after the estimate was requested.  If additional drawers, files, locks,  shelves or other storage features are added due to evolving staff needs, they will increase the bottom line.

3. The desk size grew between the time the estimate was requested and the purchase is ready to be made.  If the foot print of the desk increases, its price will as well.  By using $200 per linear foot as a rough base cost gauge, it's easy to see the costs add up when the desk size increases.

4. The client asked for additional services from the vendor.  Requesting moving existing furniture out of the way, disassembling and removing the existing circulation desk or any other ancillary service will add cost to the estimate.

5. The vendor changed fabricators.   It is not unusual for small businesses to close, move, or  be acquired by a larger company forcing the vendor to seek  pricing from a different contractor than the one who quoted the estimate originally.

These are some of the factors which can cause a difference between the estimated and actual costs.  If the difference is price is unmanageable, the interior designer can do several things to assist:

ACTIONS DESIGNERS CAN TAKE TO MITIGATE INCREASED COSTS

1. Review the quotation to identify any ancillary service costs which were not included in the budget.

2. Request an itemized quote from the vendor to review all costs for accuracy.  Understanding this will help the designer determine where to most effective cut costs if it is necessary to execute step 4 below.

3. Negotiate with the vendor as the client's representative to effect a cost savings agreeable to all.

4. Revise the design to accommodate the budget.  Revising a completed and approved design has service costs attached to it, so it is last on the list.  However if it is necessary, the designer has the resources to creatively effect cost savings without jeopardizing the integrity of the design and function.

Greenliness is next to Godliness

One of the stops on my Aunt's "must-see" list, during her visit last week - after Christmas window decorations, of course -

was the New York City Public Library.

and its restored third floor.

Certain interior design elements, such as this casework

and these ceilings reminded me of a church.  That triggered a thought of my recent visit to a friend's church where I noticed a pamphlet in the lobby promoting green living as one aspect of leading a spiritual life.

One document offered an outline of steps to take ranging from questioning consumption and product packaging to cleaning supplies in order to lead a greener life.

Although I am not promoting a specific religion, I feel libraries in their role as community centers and places of information exchange can take a cue from the Presbyterian Church, in this case, and prominently place resources encouraging an interest in sustainability.  There is an opportunity for libraries to be leaders in disseminating information about sustainability which feels like a valuable void to fill.

Interior Design Leaders Discuss the Value of Design

Past Presidents of NJ Chapter of ASID (2008).  From top left: Diane Durocher, Tere Bresin, Jack Ruthaser, Art Simon. Second row: Mary Brennan, Diane Boyer, Gail Whiting. Third row: Diane Gote, Steven Levy. Fourth row: Suzan Globus, Judy Fosshage. Front row: Camille Waldron, Rona Spiegel, Gale Youngworth, Linda Potter, Mary Sferra, Ria Gulian, Karen Topjian

At the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) New Jersey chapter Council of Presidents annual meeting last night, a group of interior design leaders discussed a recurring topic - the value of interior design. Usually the conversation is prefaced by the comment, "My clients don't understand what I do." and moves to the challenge of documenting the value of interior design based on its effect on human behavior.

After current NJASID President and President-Elect Diane Evans and Sharon Draznin (not pictured) brought us up to date about their plans for the coming years, I took the opportunity to talk about the latest initiative of the ASID Foundation which addresses documenting the value of interior design. Titled Transform/ Applied Research in Interior Design and Human Behvior, the Foundation's newly created interior design research grant program, will award up to three grants of up to $35,000 each in its first year. The Foundation is requesting research proposals from interior designers, scientists and educators regarding “How interior design impacts human behavior” through November 15, 2010. Special attention will be given to collaborative teams in the evaluation of the proposals. 

The healthcare industry has been leading the way in documenting the outcomes of interior design perhaps because the results are more tangible and easier to capture than in other types of interiors and because the healthcare industry has a tradition of documenting outcomes.  Designers who practice interior design in environments other than healthcare lack the proof that design affects human behavior and well being. It is something we designers instinctively know and have witnessed but have not yet recorded.

The exciting prospect about ASID Foundation's Transform grant program is that it creates opportunity and incentive for teams of interior design practitioners, educators and scientists to capture the value of interior design and share it with all of us associated with the profession so that we may be able to create a more definitive conversation about the value of interior design and share it with our clients.

Green Resources Invite Exploration

Making decisions about sustainable products and practices involves hours of research.  When the information is dry and presented in a boring format, the hunt can become tedious.   Several green websites are well designed and engaging. Afterall, isn't good design, regardless of the medium, always engaging?  Here's a short list of appealing sites to investigate:

Treehugger This comprehensive site weighs in on topics ranging from design to transportation with plenty of "how to" guides.

Environmental Working Group covers health, farming, natural resources and energy with a special focus on protecting children from environmental toxins.

Good Guide focuses on personal and cleaning products and is helpful for learning about the implications of some common chemicals used in these products.

Green Money Journal provides accessible information about socially responsible investing.

LOHAS a B2B site that tracks the market segment they name the "Cultural Creatives" and define as those seeking a lifestyle of health and sustainability to provide a forum to exchnage best business practices.

Enjoy the exploration.

 

Design Inspiration from City Patterns and Colors

I appreciate having a coastal setting for a home base and yet I always welcome the inspiration I get from nearby New York City.  There is plenty to look at where I live: Sailboats in Highlands, NJ. Photo: Suzan Globus

Tortoise in bog, Cranbury, NJ.  The pattern of the light reflecting from the algae bloom in this bog lends itself to a fabric design.

And plenty to notice in the city.  Here's what caught my eye yesterday:

Photo: Suzan Globus

The fibrous paper panels displayed in the window of Kate's Paperie in the West Village repeat the scrolls in the panels under the windows across the street.

Photo: Suzan Globus

A closer look at the random pattern in the floor of The Standard Grill in the Meat Packing District revealed it was made with pennies coated with resin.  

Photo: Suzan Globus

The array of colors offered in the glasses lining the walls creates an intriguing display in glassybaby in the West Village.

Photo: Suzan Globus

The color of the setting sun reflecting off the Brooklyn skyline reminds me of the glassybaby display above.  The pattern and color I see wherever I go keeps feeding my design inspiration library.

Recycling - Library Style

Reduce Reuse Recycle

One of our library clients, Jefferson Township Public Library, is taking the lead in at least one of the three "R's" of sustainability. A focal point of our new design for the library is new carpeting to help delineate the various collections and create "rooms" within the open space of the library.

The bright colors and simple shapes in the pattern of the new carpet tiles announce the children's area. Photo by Suzan Globus.

Usually, when new carpeting is installed, the old floor covering is carted off to the dump.  The Carpet and Rug Institute has estimated that approximately 80 million square yards of carpet are added to the landfill each year.  Picture that!  We routinely advise clients to donate or sell rather that discard furnishings they will not be using any longer.  Carpeting, however, is tough to give away.  

Not so for the Jefferson Township Library.  According to Library Director Seth Stephens, one of the library trustees mentioned the library redesign to a friend.  The friend, a member of a local club, was looking to install carpeting in the group's club house.  When he was informed about the carpet no longer needed at the library, he brought a van and hand selected enough carpet tiles to carpet the club house.  As a result, the library successfully diverted about 25 percent of their old flooring from the landfill.  Hats off to the library for demonstrating how to lighten the load going to the dump.

Apologies to my readers for my absence last week.  A funeral drew me out of town unexpectedly.

Crowd Control in Libraries

When the view outdoors looks like this for too many days, I imagine warmer weather and moving about freely among my fellow cold climate dwellers.  I used to live on a resort island where the resident population of 3,000 swelled to more than 100,000 people during the summer, and I saw some examples of the psychology of crowds. If asked to think of an example of where crowd control is necessary, libraries probably wouldn't be the first interior space that comes to mind.

And yet, crowd control stanchions like these pictured from BSI-CC are not uncommon in  libraries. Although the library staff I've spoken with feel they are a necessary element of library design, I think of them as a last resort for a couple of reasons:

• The reward isn't big enough.  Crowd control stanchions are used in banks, motor vehicle registration centers and places where the only reward is leaving with what you came to get after spending too much time waiting for it.
• ADA issues. I have seen several products attempting to address the ADA guidelines by offering belts positioned at 27" above the floor; but I have yet to see a stanchion base that complies with a minimum height.  If retractable belts are used, the stanchions become especially hazardous without the belts.

Many of the libraries we design are in the most densely populated state in the US where outwitting your fellow shopper, driver, or patron for a superior position is considered fair sport.  Libraries, like other facilities, are subject to crowds and their behaviors.  This is a great problem for library interior designers to address, and I'll write about some solutions next post.

Library Seating - A Different Take

Circ Desk Seating?

After making an interior design presentation to one of our public library clients, Valerie returned to our office to report that a library board member proposed adding benches in front of the circulation desk to accommodate the older library customers while they waited to check out.

Where possible in the facility, we like to provide seating by the entrance for people who are waiting for a  ride, but the idea of placing seating by the circulation desk was new to me.  I don't recommend benches by the circulation desk for a couple of reasons:

1. They obstruct the heavily trafficked real estate in front of the circulation desk and (here's the more important reason)

2.  They signal your customer can expect to wait, and nobody wants to wait. They scream, "Service is slow here!"

If you walked into a bank (those of you who still visit banks) and saw benches in front of the tellers windows, you would probably turn and leave.

If lines to check out are so slow at the library that the customers are fidgeting or complaining, it's time to revisit your system, crowd management, or staff needs and to try self check out systems.  With the welcome interest in designing great looking libraries to entice more people to use them, it's important that they are easy to use to keep people coming back.

GDA Holiday Outing

Destination: Trenton, New Jersey?

Each year, I take my staff on a holiday outing to "a place of design interest".  This vague description gives me leeway in selecting our field trips. This year we found some surprising visual treats in Trenton.

Not exactly the design capital of the world, you say?  In the early 1800's, it was the ceramics making capital of the world and earned this landmark sign which I look forward to seeing when returning from Washington, D.C. by train.

 

We toured a small gem of a museum Ellarslie, The Trenton City Museum, housed in an 1848 Italianate mansion.

Photo by Suzan Globus

The museum is located in Cadwalader Park, a 100-acre park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. It deserves a return trip in the spring to see it in bloom.

 

Ceramics are the foundation of Ellarslie's permanent collection and include examples from the highly collectible Fulper, Stangl and Trenton potteries as well as Lenox and Boehm porcelains, all products of Trenton factories. 

Photo by Suzan Globus

The vibrant complimentary colors in this Stangl Sunburst pattern were riveting.

Photo by Suzan Globus

This Lenox porcelain coffee service, with Art Deco influences and a Canadian inspired painted design, offers a frigid contrast to the Stangl pottery shown above.

We capped off the day sharing wonderful northern Italian dishes such as homemade squid ink pasta in one of Trenton's many eateries.  Without my colleagues, GDA would not be able to deliver such great service to our clients and it certainly wouldn't be as much fun doing it.  Our holiday adventures remind me how lucky I am. Happy New Year.