Award-winning architect Clive Wilkinson, founder and Design Director of Clive Wilkinson Architects, has released his first book, entitled "The Theatre of Work". Wilkinson's 280-page new book examines global and historical developments in the workplace.

Published by Frame Publishers, the book is part theoretical investigation and part monograph, and proposes a sociological evolution of the relationship between office users and the spaces they occupy. 

Wilkinson is widely known as a go-to designer of highly responsive, customized office spaces for leading tech and creative companies, including Disney, Google, Intuit, and Microsoft. The Theatre of Work delineates best practices for using architecture and urban design thinking to build communities that spark creativity and innovation within the workplace.

In his new book, Wilkinson expertly addresses the evolution of workplace antecedents, relationships and processes, and demonstrates how design can promote opportunities for collaboration and social engagement.

Wilkinson gives readers a look into his creative process by sharing seven humanistic principles that contribute to his brand of workspace design, as explained through 14 case studies that bring this concept of theatre to fruition. 

Pallotta TeamWorks, Los Angeles, California, 2002.

"A great workplace that fosters productive work effectively is a major attraction for talent retention and a powerful business tool," said Wilkinson. 

"If an office does not incorporate play in some form, it communicates that there is ‘no place for play’ or in other words, no place for testing ideas."

Macquarie Group headquarters, Sydney, Australia, 2009.

Wilkinson’s renowned design studio personalizes workspaces by prioritizing each unique program and creating interiors that reflect their clients’ distinct work culture. The practice creates bespoke environments, ultimately boosting workplace morale and talent retention.  

The outcome of this design process, with its multiple performative layers, effectively promotes elevating a corporate brief of basic needs and goals to a profoundly human-centered presentation of ‘work as theatre.’ 

Macquarie Group, Ropemaker Place, London, 2011.

Microsoft Canada Excellence Center, Vancouver, British of Columbia, Canada, 2016. 

Pallotta TeamWorks offices, which was converted from warehouse, Los Angeles, California, 2002.

Intuit Marine Way Building, Mountain View, California, 2016. 

Clive Wilkinson FAIA, FIIDA, RIBA, is an architect, designer, writer and strategist with expertise in the application of urban design thinking to interior design, specifically in workplace and educational communities. His practice, Clive Wilkinson Architects, is an acknowledged global leader in workplace design. 

The book can be purchased from Frame Store with a price of €39,00. 

Book facts

Released: November 2019
Frame Publishers
English
Written by Clive Wilkinson
Graphic Design by Zoe Bar-Pereg
240 x 280 mm    
280 page / full color / hardcover
ISBN 978-94-92311-36-8

All images courtesy of Clive Wilkinson Architects

> via Clive Wilkinson Architects