The years 1996-1998 marked a tremendous growth in demand for MG Taylor processes and Athenaeum International environments.  Pushed to the limit by the reengineering processes and cost cutting, organizations began to look at ways to increase revenue and plan more effectively for the future.  One thing was certain: hours that grew into weeks and years of strategic planning meetings did not give the results that were needed to galvanize organizations and their people around change. At best, common organizational processes and meetings resulted in incremental change. Something more was needed. Research on how people learn and work came to the fore, highlighting the need for environments with more variety and flexibility to stimulate creative thinking.  MG Taylor/Athenaeum International environments, processes, and tools offered the possibility of using creativity, time compression, and a knowledge rich environment to reinvent the way people work.  The sense of play in these unique environments, the working models, the ability to adapt the space to the needs of the work all demonstrated to a growing complement of clients their value in a growing number of Taylor Management and Navigation Centers.  In addition, MG Taylor began a chain of knOwhere^TM Stores, dedicated to offering tools and processes for the virtual workplace.

The hallmark of a Management Center is the provision of an environment and support systems that configure to the work, rather than forcing the work to configure to a fixed layout.  The ability to adjust is not confined to the arrangement of walls and work stations.  It includes staff and user control of sound, light, sight, sense of space and access to tools.  Physically, this is accomplished by opening and shutting and rolling  walls around the space, deploying and stowing work stations, changing light levels, using and controlling color, texture and smell.  The nature of the space is recreated by both fixed and moving elements.
Bryan Coffman, 1997

This type of environment cannot be casually created.  Athenaeum International has been active in considering client needs for flexibility and adaptability of the work environment, psychological studies about the power of variety and healthy ergonomic furniture on productivity, and standards of quality and durability in fine furniture manufacture.  The result has been a method of mass customization in which standard furniture items are adapted to meet the needs of specific customers. Not unlike the design and construction of a fine sailboat, our environments demonstrate our careful attention to detail, quality, durability, and utility.

Discovering you don't know something is the first step to knowing it.
MG Taylor DesignShop Axiom
 
 
 
 
 
 

NASA Langley Research Center
MG Taylor knOwhere Store, Hilton Head, SC
MG Taylor knOwhere Store, Cambridge, MA
MG Taylor knOwhere Store, Palo Alto, CA
Athenaeum International, Erie, CO
Athenaeum International, Boulder, CO
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