Interior decorating and the flow of "Chi"

March 23, 2024, 12:08 AM

My office is adding one of these booths for meetings:

You can get more info about it here.

It will be installed at the upper right corner of the lobby. The booth can be oriented with its door at the 6 o'clock position, or the 9 o'clock position.

At the 6 o'clock position, it will be opposite the main entrance doors to the office. They are double glass doors, clear on the upper and lower section, with the mid section frosted for privacy.

I'm no expert, but I think it's a bad idea for one door to face another door, even if they are not directly aligned.

I would suggest the booth should be installed with the door at the 9 o'clock position, which will face a wall.

Another wildcard idea is to install the booth slanted at 45 degree angle against the corner. It will leave some space behind the booth, but that area isn't used for much else anyway.

Which one of you closeted new age hipster dabble in the art of Feng Shui?

March 23, 2024, 01:22 PM

flesheatingvirus

I think the whole thing looks like a temporary bathroom setup. Maybe a changing room.

They don’t have actual meeting rooms?

Also, $15k??? I could make a sound dampened plywood box for a lot less than that.

________________________________________

-- Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. --

March 23, 2024, 01:25 PM

RogueJSK

... They're paying $15k for a 7x7 plywood cubicle with a roof and door?

I'd say they need to worry less about Feng Shui and more about Kama Sutra, because they're getting screwed.

March 23, 2024, 02:09 PM

Rawny

^^^
Yeah, but you're forgetting the nice ventilation system, touch-operated dimmer switch, power adjustable counter, and much much more. They're all value-adds, you know?

Our office has an open layout with no cubicles. There is one conference room and one other smaller room for meetings up to four people. Since the Plandemic started, the majority of the meetings are done through MS Team or by phone. The rationale for these booths is so a meeting can be held without all the background noise.

The cost of that damn thing was one issue I brought up when I learned of it. The VP had already ordered them, so there was no stopping this to look for a more practical solution.

As if that's not bad enough, we are also getting two of the smaller Solo models.

More than 25 Large we just spent on these glorified phone booths. Then we were told we need to find a contractor offering the lowest rate to assemble them, because the maker of these booths charges too much for their assembly service.

Penny wise and pound foolish...

On the bright side, some of my co-workers will get that standing desk they wanted!

March 23, 2024, 02:37 PM

kkina

I'm not even close to a Feng Shui expert, so you would want to fact-check me with someone who is. But in answer to the original question, it would be considered generally bad to have 2 doors facing each other. It would introduce a strong, rushing current running directly through the room. It would disrupt activity and be a horrible financial drain, flushing away all wealth.

90° would be more neutral, and allow gentle mixing of energy within the room.

45° is an interesting idea. This would create a primary money corner, ideal for a business. If you have the real estate to accomodate, it might create the most auspicious arrangement.

March 23, 2024, 02:38 PM

RogueJSK

Yikes. Welcome to the future of office work.

First you take an office workplace, and you bust down all the walls to make it "open concept" and "equitable". It shows that you're hip and cool, and that we're not coworkers here, we're family.

Then, if some of the workers get tired of trying to concentrate while everyone else just ~~hangs out and bullshits~~ I mean collaborates, you kindly offer to shove them into phone booths and little wooden boxes so they can get some actual work done.

You've now circled back to offices/cubicles. Only much smaller. And more expensive.

Genius.

March 23, 2024, 03:35 PM

tatortodd

Kudos to mgmt for pissing away $15k plus install

Give 'em hell at the inevitable budget cut meeting.

On a positive front, the OP has a new farting annex

March 23, 2024, 07:21 PM

TomS

quote:
Originally posted by Rawny:
^^^
Yeah, but you're forgetting the nice ventilation system, touch-operated dimmer switch, power adjustable counter, and much much more. They're all value-adds, you know?

Our office has an open layout with no cubicles. There is one conference room and one other smaller room for meetings up to four people. Since the Plandemic started, the majority of the meetings are done through MS Team or by phone. The rationale for these booths is so a meeting can be held without all the background noise.

The cost of that damn thing was one issue I brought up when I learned of it. The VP had already ordered them, so there was no stopping this to look for a more practical solution.

As if that's not bad enough, we are also getting two of the smaller Solo models.

More than 25 Large we just spent on these glorified phone booths. Then we were told we need to find a contractor offering the lowest rate to assemble them, because the maker of these booths charges too much for their assembly service.

Penny wise and pound foolish...

On the bright side, some of my co-workers will get that standing desk they wanted!

Hey! They invented a phone booth!

March 23, 2024, 07:23 PM

vthoky

quote:
Originally posted by RogueJSK:trying to concentrate while everyone else just ~~hangs out and bullshits~~

I hated the cube farm SO much for the first, oh, 25 years or so of my career -- for that very reason. A crew where I used to work were known as the DNP -- the Do Nothing Posse. The first hour or so of each day, management was involved in meetings, so these guys seemed to take it as free reign to not have to do anything until the morning meetings were over. Drove me nuts.

In the last four or five years of my last job, I did finally have an office to myself. My door wasn't closed often, but it was nice to be able to do so when I needed to make a phone call, or concentrate, or deal with the multitude of Teams meetings proliferated by of the the plandemic.

I'm a year into my new job now. I have an office, just adjacent to the general meeting area. In the past entire year, my door has been closed just twice, and one of those times was because my boss closed it knowing that the meeting going on was too loud.

Love my new job!

quote:
Originally posted by tatortodd:
OP has a new farting annex

March 23, 2024, 07:54 PM

dsiets

Nice sauna. Y'all can just relax now.

March 23, 2024, 07:59 PM

Rawny

quote:
Originally posted by kkina:
I'm not even close to a Feng Shui expert, so you would want to fact-check me with someone who is. But in answer to the original question, it would be considered generally bad to have 2 doors facing each other. It would introduce a strong, rushing current running directly through the room. It would disrupt activity and be a horrible financial drain, flushing away all wealth.

90° would be more neutral, and allow gentle mixing of energy within the room.

45° is an interesting idea. This would create a primary money corner, ideal for a business. If you have the real estate to accomodate, it might create the most auspicious arrangement.

Thank you! My instinct was correct. It's similar to sitting with your back to an opening. It's something people who are safety-conscious like us just don't want to do.

Your assessment on the 45 degree angle was a surprise. I looked into it a bit, and found similar opinions. This is an example of what you pointed out:

Figure #3 best illustrate the setup at the lobby. The left corner is not available, as it is the hallway leading to the main workspace. The booth will be at the right corner. I will mark off the area with tape on the ground to get a sense of its footprint mounted diagonally. If it doesn't take up too much space and impede foot traffic, it might work.

quote:
Originally posted by tatortodd:
On a positive front, the OP has a new farting annex

Gives new meaning to "Hot-boxing".

March 23, 2024, 09:04 PM

Rey HRH

quote:
Originally posted by RogueJSK:
... They're paying $15k for a 7x7 plywood cubicle with a roof and door?

I'd say they need to worry less about Feng Shui and more about Kama Sutra, because they're getting screwed.

That's what I thought. They partitioned a large room into smaller offices for us using just partition walls that were just ceiling high cubicle walls. Even at $1500 a wall plus in-house labor, you'd still be ahead.

"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.

March 23, 2024, 09:07 PM

Rey HRH

quote:
Originally posted by Rawny:
At the 6 o'clock position, it will be opposite the main entrance doors to the office. They are double glass doors, clear on the upper and lower section, with the mid section frosted for privacy.

I'm no expert, but I think it's a bad idea for one door to face another door, even if they are not directly aligned.

if you're into Feng Shui, you don't want doors or stairs directly to the doors to the building as the money will just flow directly out into the streets.