Ctrlshiftspace

🥳Whoop whoop!! ctrl+shift+space is now… A+E Design Lab!! We’ve partnered up with and are SO excited to start creating some amazing interior/exterior living/working spaces right here in our great PacificNW backyard. Please reach out to us design beautiful spaces together! ✨🤩✨www.aedesignlab.com

Hello! It’s been a moment…or several! We’ve been busy creating, living, learning…and as always, loving to design! Here’s a little we created for our friends for a recent we attended. So much food for thought was shared on upcoming design trends to watch for… and ’astroMOD’ is our take on with a dash of and pinch of thrown in for fun. We hope you like what you see!

Our friends at Your Exceptional Space, are still in a phase of cautious optimism, planning the Return to Office and the Hybrid Workforce. Their recent blog post on “Solving for ‘Flex’ – Planning for the Hybrid Workforce” highlights a number of findings and data points that have them looking to the long view, where the transition to hybrid work models will take years to perfect, not weeks or months. 🤓

Click for the full post, additional facts and suggestions for what workplace developments to watch for in the years to come…

Guest Post: Wendy Spreenberg - Solving for “Flex” – Planning for the Hybrid Workforce — ctrl+shift+space Our friends at YES! Your Exceptional Space, are still in a phase of cautious optimism, planning the Return to Office and the Hybrid Workforce. Their recent blog post, “Solving for ‘Flex’ – Planning for the Hybrid Workforce”, highlights a number of findings and data points that have them lo...

We’ve said it before in our future of work blog pieces, and we’ll say it again here. We need to repurpose, reimagine and reinvent the built environment – without chewing up more land and natural resources. 🌏 Our Planet (you know the one whose climate is now in Code Red), must be a driving force behind why hybrid/remote work models should be a mainstay moving forward. 🌱

In Bisnow’s new podcast, “Office Politics: The Battle For The Future Of Work,” experts share that 75% of the carbon emitted during a building’s life cycle comes from its construction and demolition, and just 25% from its operations. So, the focus should now fall on refurbishing existing buildings as a less carbon-intensive strategy. Click to check out the full article and podcast.

Needless Construction And Architectural Arrogance: Climate Crisis And The Future Of Work Changes in office demand could reduce the need for new buildings, which means fewer carbon emissions.

Interested in commercial office renovation trends that improve wellbeing? Then check out our newest guest blog post... 😍

Natalie Akins, Interior Design Editor with Innovative Building Materials, writes: “While creativity and collaboration are undoubtedly optimized in open floor plans, the pandemic reminded everyone that, in addition to the periodic need for privacy, some measures must be taken to provide social distance and ensure employee wellness.”

Click below to read the full article!

Trending Interior Renovations for a Commercial Office That Improve Wellbeing — ctrl+shift+space We’re pleased to share this guest post written by Natalie Akins, Interior Design Editor with Innovative Building Materials. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevailing trend in commercial office design was to open up spaces to create a more inviting work atmosphere. While creativity and collabo...

We’re thrilled to introduce you to Mukhtara Yusuf, the Equitable Design Coordinator for one of our clients Human Solutions. A Yoruba designer from what is now known as southwestern Nigeria, Mukhtara is a decolonial designer with a background in environmentalism and culturally responsive, trauma-informed community engagement.

Not only has Mukhtara wow-ed us with their emphasis on inclusive processes during the entire design process, they have served as an invaluable resource for Human Solutions in helping the organization's physical spaces – like housing, shelters, offices and service centers – be inclusive, trauma-informed and welcoming to all who use them, especially BIPOC folks who historically have been less considered.

Mukhtara and ctrl+shift+space founder, Allyson Strowbridge, worked closely together during the project design process to identify furnishings that would allow families to sit together, and be easily reconfigurable to allow for parents and children to snuggle up...or for older kids and teens to sit wherever they want. They selected geometric shaped modular furniture pieces similar to floor cushions, which many cultures are more accustomed to sitting on instead of standard couches or chairs. In addition, they chose small tables and short stools for toddlers to use for drawing/reading, as well as a sensory “wall toy” for interactive entertainment. Overall, brighter, more cheerful upholstery colors were used so that the space could be inviting to younger people.

Want to learn more about Mukhtara? Follow along with them on Instagram and click below to read more!

https://humansolutions.org/meet-mukhtara-yusuf/

Ahhh, positive disruption is in the air! 😌 ctrl+shift+space founder, Allyson Strowbridge, was recently featured on The Business Storytelling Show podcast with Christoph Trappe in an episode titled “How to Actually Change the Status Quo.”

Click to hear Allyson’s thoughts on how to move past our inclinations as creatures of habit, why the hard questions matter and to glean some tips and tricks for moving out of your comfort zone to adopt new behaviors that can change your mindset, industry, team and ultimately the status quo…

https://www.podpage.com/business-storytelling-podcast/392-how-to-actually-change/

392: How to actually change the status quo Status-quo breaker Allyson Strowbridge joins me on this livestream to discuss the topic. When has the status quo held you back? Join us. Check out her c…

As the world slowly returns to physical workspaces, how should we rebuild them to be more inclusive with equity in mind, and to be culturally and psychologically sensitive for the people who will use them? To answer just that, check out our newest blog post that expands on all eight design tips from our recent series, Design Tips for Inclusive Workspaces.

Each tip focuses on elements of human-centered design (a CORE value for us here at ctrl+shift+space). From selecting furnishings for different body-types or space uses that are equal in value, quality and efficiency...to protecting those who are re-entering workspaces from being overwhelmed and overloaded, these tips teach us how to put people first using human-centered design.

Miss the series or curious how to design an inclusive workspace? Click to read the full-length blog post!

Tips for Designing Inclusive Workplace Environments — ctrl+shift+space "Inclusive Design Principles are about putting people first. It's about designing for the needs of people with permanent, temporary, situational, or changing disabilities — all of us really." – InclusiveDesignPrinciples.org

Feeling blah? Take a joy break. We’re in awe of this magical mood-boosting experience created by NPR. ✨ 🌊

Click below to find your flow through doodling, immerse yourself in soothing nature sounds and discover your poetic side...

NPR's Joy Generator Feeling blah? We've got ideas you can try out right now.

The future workplace will be one that heavily relies on flexibility and equity, and that serves as a destination of choice. This new era will focus on the entire Human Experience (HX) as a whole, versus being confined within the walls of a workplace environment. Instead of placing attention on renovation budgets or move timelines, people will be the first consideration when it comes to selecting locations and designing offices with HX in mind.

Click the link below to learn more about the three interdependent pillars that form the foundation for the destination workplace…

📸: Anders Norrback Bornholm

The Future Workplace: An Era of Human Experience (HX) & Destination of Choice — ctrl+shift+space Until recent times, never has there been a moment in history that has truly and repeatedly turned our world upside down – on so many levels. The global pandemic and the civil rights movement continues to put us through the ringer with what feels like weekly (and sometimes daily) shocks to the hear...

When it comes to rethinking the ways we work, our friends over at SWAYworkplace know what’s up. The disruption to our daily lives during the pandemic caused many of us to adjust to working from home, finding ourselves trying to balance our personal lives – like homeschooling or video calls with a partner in the same room – with our professional responsibilities. As we leave old unuseful habits behind, how can we achieve flexibility and work as a lifestyle?

“Work-as-a-Lifestyle is the opposite of work/life balance. The phrase ‘work/life balance’ is a corporate term that assumes you have two separate and distinct lives that must be glued together to create a cohesive approach to productivity and, ultimately, happiness. By contrast, “work-as-a-lifestyle” is a personal term that correctly postulates that you are one person, living one life, and endeavoring to make it count.”

Click link below to read the full article, including real life ways to achieve work-as-a-lifestyle.

https://www.swayworkplace.com/blog/work-as-a-lifestyle

📸: Bruno Cervera

Change can be overwhelming. As we reimagine our work spaces and professional realms that surround us, don’t forget to take it slow and keep it manageable. Your own mental health and personal self awareness journey comes first. 🌼🌼🌼

Artwork courtesy of on Instagram.

Congrats to ctrl+shift+space founder, Allyson, for becoming a Certified Foresight Practitioner! What does that mean, you ask?

A Certified Foresight Practitioner is trained in the foundational ideas and tools of the Natural Foresight® framework, embodies the futurist mindset and understands the value of futures intelligence in her respective field. They are able to conduct trendspotting, horizon scanning and pattern-making that informs future scenarios and impacts business results. Learn more at thefuturesschool.com.

Want to schedule a chat with Allyson to learn more or set up an appointment to discuss pattern-making and future scenarios for your own business? Send us a DM! 🤓

Need some more proof on why the four-day work week is such a cool concept? Here’s proof that it works when there’s consensus among both employees and management. ⚡️

This research found that working fewer hours for the same pay led to improved well-being among workers, with no loss in productivity. In fact, in some places, workers were more productive after cutting back their hours. Working fewer hours resulted in people feeling more energized and less stressed. They spent more time exercising and seeing friends, which then had a positive effect on their work...One worker quoted in the research cited an increased respect for the individual as a motivating factor. Rather than being seen as machines that work all day, there was recognition that workers have desires and private lives, families and hobbies.” (NPR)

Click below to read the full report as well as NPR’s report summary. Cheers to Iceland! 🥂
https://autonomy.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/ICELAND_4DW.pdf

https://www.npr.org/2021/07/06/1013348626/iceland-finds-major-success-moving-to-shorter-work-week

Alas there’s nothing like disruption and letting go of old habits that no longer serve us. 🙃 We’ve all seen, read, thought and talked about the many ways the pandemic has caused our societies to rethink the ways we live. But how can we TRULY implement some of our ideas around what’s ripe for change, including not reverting back to pre-pandemic old nasty work habits that are detrimental to our mental and physical health? Our August content will focus on just that.

Some of the answers that are buzzing around include five hour days, four-day workweeks and flexible staggered schedules. 🐝

Click below to dip your toes into how this is possible, and what implementation looks like for these new ideas.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2021/05/28/the-future-of-work-will-be------------five-hour-days-a-four-day-workweek-and-flexible-staggered-schedules/?sh=565d608116f1

📸: on Instagram

Last but not least in this month’s design series is tip eight. In a post pandemic world, there will be even more people who are sometimes overwhelmed and overloaded quickly with too much visual/auditory/olfactory/physical texture or touch. 🙈 This may impact their ability to focus or be productive, and could prevent workers from tapping into their creative selves. When considering designing a work environment to be more inclusive, it'll be imperative to create sensory-safe spaces that somewhat deprive the 5-senses in an effort to shield people from becoming over-agitated. These sensory safe spaces will allow individuals time and space to decompress throughout their day. 🙏

To do this in a way that doesn't feel antiseptic or uncomfortably sterile, it will be important to select calming and neutral colors, low-texture and very simple patterns for upholsteries. Consider locating a sensory-safe room away from the buzz of the office and smells of the break room. Add air purifiers or neutralizers and do your best to soundproof the room. Consider different ways of reducing noise, albeit visual or audio. Be careful with busy patterns on surfaces and keep the hodge-podge of overly eclectic furnishings to a minimum.

🌟 Miss the series or craving more deets on how to execute inclusive design? Keep an eye out for a new blog post next month expanding on the series Design Tips for Inclusive Workspaces!

We’re feeling these dreamy summer plant disco vibes, courtesy of The Plant Doctors ( on Instagaram) and Havenstone Home! 🌿✨

The next tip in this month’s design series coming your way… 🤓 Design with people in mind by creatively using amenities and features to enhance employees' experience of the workspace. During the design process, ask yourself: What other conveniences, equipment or services could the space provide that would add value?

For example, adding extra screens, displays or other AV equipment like microphones could benefit those using the space and encourage more employees to take advantage of the features provided. Or, provide users with some degree of control by giving them the ability to adjust things like room temperature, lighting or ambient noise or music (yes, please!).

We’re crushing over Elle Decor’s A-List 2021, most importantly since the list includes many Black art and design community members! Featured here is A-lister Danielle Colding of Danielle Colding Design. Also in the latest issue of Elle Decor is Danielle’s A-List Approved selections for decor. 💕

Looking to empower or collaborate with the Black art and design community? The Black Artists + Designers Guild is a global collective of Black makers of the African diaspora. Head to their website to search and hire artists and designers, or to donate or join: https://www.badguild.info

Check out the full A List: https://lnkd.in/gpRi-v3

📸: Courtesy of Danielle Colding Design, photo by Brittany Ambridge

Design with people in mind by prioritizing the different core activities that various jobs or roles will require when using the workspace. Because teams and/or departments can have very different work styles and flows, it can be helpful to divide entire offices or workspaces into smaller spaces based on who exactly will be using them – we like to call these “team neighborhoods.” Ask groups simple ‘who/what/how’ questions to get to the bottom of what’s necessary (must have), what’s a bonus (should have) and what’s ideal (nice to have). This knowledge will help prioritize furnishings, equipment, tools and accessories that will create the right mix of elements to optimize productivity, collaboration and space utilization.

For example, the primary activities your Finance/Accounting team engages in will be very different from your Marketing or Sales teams. The design function of each “team neighborhood” should prioritize the furnishings and the furnishing ratio accordingly. This allows workspaces to be outfitted in ways that support the core needs of who will be using the specific space most frequently.

As people begin to work together in person once again, how should we reimagine our workspaces to be more inclusive, with equity and cultural/psychological sensitivity in mind? To help answer this, up next in our two-month series “Design Tips for Inclusive Workspaces'' is tip five.

Workplace design can put people first by offering choices in design features and functions. Different work activities will require different space solutions. Every person will be best supported if various furniture, surroundings and visual or auditory assistance are easily and readily available in collaboration spaces.

Before reserving a space for an in-person or hybrid-style gathering, consider the duration, agenda, goals and (very importantly) who (what personas/audience) will be in the room. Then select the best space and atmosphere that will support the kind of interactions, activities and outcomes that are being sought for the space’s use. For example, if you know a particularly sensitive conversation will take place, select a space that has been designed to provide privacy, comfort and a sense of calm to evoke the right ambiance for psychological safety. Or, if you’re looking to get people excited about a new idea, select a space that has been furnished and set up in a way that energizes, uplifts and inspires people. Be mindful with hybrid-style meetings to ensure audio and visual equipment is equitably provided and placed so that all participants can have a similar experience that ensures everyone’s voices are heard and facial expressions are seen.

There’s no better way to start off a new month than with a GIVEAWAY! 🌟 We’re excited to partner with local PNW artist Bruce Vincent to award one lucky winner this featured print.

In his artistic process, Bruce focuses on the creative exploration of printmaking techniques – including mono type, collagraph, dry point and mark making from sketch (using materials found outside of the conventional realm). He uses these techniques to create prints out of many layers of TEXTURE and COLOR...something we also LOVE incorporating to our commercial design work here at ctrl+shift+space. 😍

Head to Instagram to see the full rules and enter to win!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ8_amiBiUb/

Up next is tip four in our series, Design Tips for Inclusive Workspaces. Put people first when designing spaces by giving them control. As much as possible, provide furnishings (like flip-top tables on casters or casual seating on glides) and equipment (like TV carts or whiteboards) that are mobile or easy to reconfigure. Be aware of the many possible uses of any given space. This puts control of space utilization and configuration directly into the end-user's hands, empowering them to manage their experience within the work environment in ways that suit their needs and match the activities they’re engaging in.

Art courtesy of Portland Women of Color – a local organization that is dedicated to curating events that empower Brown and Black women to thrive personally and professionally.

Follow along with them and head to pdxwomenofcolor.com to donate!

This week in our series, Design Tips for Inclusive Workspaces, is tip three. To put people first with inclusive design, it’s important to be consistent in your approach to sensory design. Think about work behaviors, activities and functions. As much as possible keep color palettes or patterns, textures, or sounds similar across multiple spaces that are meant to function in similar ways.

For example, equip phone booths/private soundproof spaces with similar styles of furnishings, tools (digital and analog) and other sensory design elements to provide cues as to how the spaces are meant to be used. Use similar graphics/signage/wayfinding or audio elements to provide hints and indicators throughout the office that help people make sense of their surroundings. These cues should allow people to understand how to use the space easier and faster, and should reduce the amount of mental processing needed to navigate the physical space.

Reduce the friction people feel across the physical work environment with the intentional use of various sensory cues. After all, people should have a purpose for working from the office (and it’s not about just being present!) and that is to focus their energies on what matters most – getting their work done as productively, efficiently and as easily as possible.

Appropriately so, companies are now facing even more pressure from stakeholders–like customers and investors–to deliver on their diversity and inclusion promises. These stakeholders often ask corporations to release their workforce gender, racial, and ethnic composition data as a way to incentivize change. But, “one-off diversity and inclusion ‘initiatives’ do not effectively address long-standing disparities. Instead, leaders should infuse diversity and inclusion throughout their organizations.”

From mitigating implicit bias at the systemic level to holding executive leaders accountable for driving outcomes, real change happens with long term strategies and accountability from within the organization at the corporate level.

Click below to read the full article from Harvard Business Review on “5 Strategies to Infuse D&I into Your Organization.”

5 Strategies to Infuse D&I into Your Organization One-off initiatives aren’t enough.

Up next in this month’s series, Tips for Inclusive Workspaces, is tip two. Put people first with inclusive design by building spaces that are meant to help with addressing the typical circumstances that individuals often find themselves in at work.

These intentionally designed areas could be specific rooms or spaces for managing various work situations – like stress-reduction, taking private phone calls, or holding spontaneous small group huddles. For example, a place for stress-reduction would look different for introverts, taking the form of something like a library or study, than for extroverts who would likely prefer a space set up more like a bar or cafe.

Private phone calls can happen at any moment, so providing sound-proof (or at least super quiet) spaces – whether free-standing booths, built-ins or tiny rooms – will offer options to people who may not have access to a private office, nor the time or physical ability to suddenly leave the building to take a private call in their car or outdoors. Spontaneous brainstorming huddles need activity-based spaces that have the right furnishings (mobile tables/seating/whiteboards) and appropriate tools (digital and analog). They must also be able to transform quickly to provide the right-sized space for all kinds of problem-solving activities, like: sketching, mapping, diagraming, sticky note voting, or presenting/reviewing materials over a mobile TV cart.

This Saturday the 19th is Juneteenth! For those who don’t know...what is Juneteenth, you ask?

Click through to educate yourself on this important holiday (that was JUST passed as a federal holiday), courtesy of Power Pump Girls, Inc. ( on Instagram)!

Human-centered design is the CORE value of our design principles at ctrl+shift+space. As the world returns to physical workspaces, how should we rebuild them to be more inclusive, with equity in mind, and culturally and psychologically sensitive to the people who will use them?

"Inclusive Design Principles are about putting people first. It's about designing for the needs of people with permanent, temporary, situational, or changing disabilities — all of us really."
– InclusiveDesignPrinciples.org

This month’s design series focuses on Design Tips for Inclusive Workspaces and up first is tip one. We put people first by giving them options to select tools or furnishings that are equal in value, quality and efficiency. For example, instead of providing the same task chair for everyone in a workspace, offer a few options that may be a better fit for different body types and individual preference around how one resides at their desk. Ideally all options will coordinate in color and finish for better visual cohesion in the workspace.

Our friend Wendy Spreenberg, founder of Your Exceptional Space, recently wrote a blog post that discusses her viewpoint on the coworking and flexible workspace industry and the cyclical nature of consolidation. She outlines how coworking operators are following a cycle that can more or less be predicted as far as what stages we're in now, what may occur in the mid-term and also when we might expect to see the next round of large-scale mergers and acquisitions.

In her post, Wendy states: "...our (coworking/flexworking) industry follows a predictable cycle, allowing us to respond with new ways of enabling people’s best work..."

Wendy's insights provide some great food for thought as workplace strategists, designers, end users and society as a whole looks to analyze how coworking and flexworking in the future will evolve and impact traditional office space.

Click below to give the full post a read!

https://www.ctrlshiftspace.com/blog/guest-post-wendy-spreenberg-everything-old-is-new-again-industry-consolidation