Architectural considerations for law departments

It is rare that a legal department has any significant say in how its physical space is laid out. It has not been rare for this blog to chip in on office configurations (See my post of March 21, 2006: hoteling at Sun Micro; June 5, 2007: office layout; Feb. 20, 2005: open cubicles; Nov. 19, 2005: open space at non-US law departments; May 7, 2006: office layout; Feb. 12, 2006: lawyers on one floor; May 4, 2007: shrinking office space; and April 23, 2008.).

Even so, the topic is far from exhausted. For example, if you have the chance to design some portion of your office space, consider guidelines for perimeter windows so that inside cubicles, offices and interior spaces are not dark. Lower workstation panels so that people in cubes do not feel walled in and isolated. Create “neighborhood” layouts, take into account the height of ceilings, arrange conference rooms productively, anticipate circulation patterns, and install ample lighting (See my post of Dec. 26, 2007: lights and energy-saving; and Aug. 4, 2008: older lawyers need more light.).