Thirdway last night lit up a series of London’s key landmark buildings with the letter ‘O’ in a line-up of super-sized projections, kicking-off their mission to change the definition of the word ‘office’ – an out-dated and therefore defunct word – in the Oxford and Cambridge dictionary. Site-specific locations including Canary Wharf and Tower Bridge were all emblazoned with the letter ‘O’ in a series of punchy guerilla projection mapped visuals to catch the public’s eye.
Passionate about change and about redefining the workplace to reflect this, Thirdway is committed to creating the future of the working environment. Their belief in this mission is to such an extent that they have trademarked the term “Redefining the O Word” – and from now on, until the Oxford and Cambridge Dictionary changes their definition, the word “office” will be a dirty word at Thirdway and will instead be referred to as of**ce.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, an office is “a room, set of rooms or building where people work, usually sitting at desks”. Thirdway believes that this definition is outdated and that it should be redefined to something that is more fit for purpose.
Thirdway’s goal is to persuade the Oxford dictionary to change the definition of ‘Office’ to:
“A designed space where an organisation’s engagement, collaboration, culture and productivity are enhanced via its people, to achieve stated objectives and goals.”
Thirdway strongly believes that the workspace is an essential tool for businesses to attract and retain high calibre employees in this shifting marketplace. Hybrid working is here to stay; although a desire for socialising is bringing employee’s back to the workplace (as is the cost-of-living crisis!). And it seems the drive away from working from home is coming from younger employees. According to a recent survey from Emburse, a quarter of under 35s are considering going back into the workspace due to soaring energy prices. But demands have changed. The role of the workplace must now enhance our working lives, by offering better amenity provisions than what one might encounter working from home.
Thirdway’s conviction and commitment to creating the future of the workplace is the driver that underpins every single design they work on. They practice what they preach and continue to be forward thinking, adapting their own workspace accordingly. Through listening to what their people wanted, they created in their own working environment an engaging, purposeful, and invaluable space that is not only always in use but is flexible too.
It encourages collaborative working, fantastic company culture, enhanced productivity and overall happier people creating a better standard of work than ever before. This way of working has always been a part of Thirdway life and since the pandemic of 2019, more and more people are following suit and doing the same. Therefore, the definition of “office” is no longer factually correct.
“The projections that we displayed last night kick off Thirdway’s ongoing mission to redefine the word ‘Office’ – we plan to relentlessly pursue the Oxford and Cambridge Dictionary to obtain an amendment. Workplaces are constantly changing and crisis accelerates change which has been demonstrated through the wide adoption of hybrid working after the pandemic.
The impending recession will speed up this change further. Businesses should focus on the people; enhancing collaboration, creativity, culture & productivity to allow the workplace to be a useful and profitable tool for them. So, until this definition has been revised to correctly define that, Thirdway considers the word ‘Office’ to be an obscenity.” Ben Gillam, Thirdway
©2022 Thirdway
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