Business Week calls it "the Creative Economy." After cost cutting their way through the downturn, businesses across the board are refocusing on their need to develop new sources of growth. That means innovation—and a new focus on design as a way for companies to differentiate themselves in the marketplace.

The growing affluence of modern society has led to what social critic Virginia Postrel calls "the aesthetic imperative." There is both a heightened awareness of design and a greater value placed on such "intangibles" as beauty and quality of life. "The interest in sustainability is a clear reflection of this," says Gensler New York's Ed Wood, the lead workplace designer for The New York Times Company's new headquarters in Manhattan, a best practice example of a sustainable work environment.

A process that's closer to art or design

When teams are called on to create unique new products, services, and experiences, their innovation process brings them closer to the design studio than the traditional workplace. Indeed, some argue that business challenges are so like design problems that traditional "business logic" and methods of analysis don't work anymore. All of which means that right-brain types, those who think like artists and designers, are coming into their own in the workforce.

This raises the stakes for the workplace. "The ideas in people's heads are what add value in the Creative Economy," says Barbara Dunn, a workplace leader in Gensler's Los Angeles office. As a result, "the emphasis is shifting from left-brain metrics like square feet per person to right-brain metrics that focus on how the workplace enhances people's ability to generate compelling new services and products."

At the outset of a new project, Dunn works with her clients to understand and map their expectations. She may use ethnographic techniques like participatory observation to uncover aspects of the existing workplace that signal a team's strong performance or creative bursts. "These measures are highly specific to each company's DNA," she says.

Making room for interaction

"People are the focus of the creative workspace," says Gensler San Francisco's Doug Zucker. He is seeing clients in the advertising, financial, and legal sectors embrace team-based work styles, breaking down their "silos" and opting for looser and more flexible work settings with a look-and-feel that's distinctively their own. "Creative work is all about relationships and collaboration," he observes."Creative space is real and virtual, physical and mental, all at the same time. It's a platform for interaction."

"The open exchange of ideas and expertise happens best in relaxed environments where people can socialize or break bread together," Dunn says. "They need a variety of places to congregate—formal, informal, assigned, and unassigned—and access to technology."

Balancing community and privacy

"Creative space feels open and non-hierarchical," Dunn adds. The idea is to break down barriers to communication and interaction. Some of the ways this is achieved include intersecting circulation paths, wide corridors, internal stairs, and spaces whose visual access and transparency encourage collaboration. Supporting the creative process requires a balanced allocation of "owned" and shared settings, all of which should be designed to respond quickly to people's changing needs. "Community space—the company hearth—gets more design attention now," Dunn notes. "At the same time, companies are providing 'retreats' where people can unplug, do focused work, and have private conversations." Smaller meeting spaces are desirable, as research shows that most face-to-face collaboration involves only two or three people.

Workspace that says creativity matters

Companies that value creativity "need to show this clearly," Zucker says. How they do so depends on their culture and the possibilities of their workplace and its larger setting. One company put its café in the kind of space that's usually reserved for the CEO. In cities, companies give their employees access to views or the outdoors—to an atrium, terrace, or a rooftop garden, for example. Swimming pools, gyms, and meditation rooms help people relax and recuperate as part of their workday.

Location also matters more, Gensler's Ed Wood believes. "There's a shift to areas of the city that offer a richer mix of uses and attractions." Creative companies attract people who like to work in interesting places, Zucker adds. "They're looking at a wider swathe of the city and—when they can fit into them—at renovated older buildings with high ceilings and appealing architectural features." The new generation of sustainable office towers has a similar appeal, Wood says. "They fill the workplace with natural light, modulated by the sunscreens and shading built into their facades. They're much more visually compelling, inside and out."