Beyond open office: Designing activity-based workplaces for knowledge-intensive work

Knowledge workers often view open office spaces as noisy, distracting, and incompatible with focused work.  This session explores why that perception exists—and why one-size-fits-all office models consistently fail knowledge-intensive roles. David George examines how Activity-Based Working can be utilized to create workplace configurations to support deep concentration and cognitive performance. Drawing on real-world research and workplace data, he outlines practical design strategies tailored to introverted, analytical, and research-driven teams. Attendees will leave with clear, evidence-based principles for creating flexible workplaces that genuinely support heads-down work, as well as collaborative spaces, avoid the pitfalls of generic layouts, and deliver measurable benefits for both employees and the organization.