ABSTRACT
At the turn of the twentieth century, the world of work in general but of office work in particular is in a state of enormous change and uncertainty. This change is driven directly or indirectly by technology, which has transformed basic office functions, cutting a swathe through clerical ranks and eliminating the role of many middle managers. Technology also enables people to work at home or in other places remote from their colleagues. In Britain there are already one million employed and self-employed teleworkers who would have occupied n million square metres (almost 120 million square feet) of commercial offices - representing a saving in rent and business rates of £1.2 billion. Today’s 20 million teleworkers worldwide are expected to increase to 200 million within the next 20 years. This has enormous implications for the design of the environments in which office workers once congregated during set hours to work.
