The humble office screen is far more flexible and versatile than you might originally think. A tool which has always been used to shield and provide privacy has a few other uses which can help an office transform itself, depending upon the type of work that needs to be done.
Office partition screens are primarily used when an employee needs to do close work, i.e they don’t want to be disturbed and they need a physical barrier between them and those working around them. You could argue that screens may discourage social interaction and collaboration, but many of these are mobile, i.e. they can be taken down when not required.
Screens are usually attached to bench desks to create privacy, or you could go for a floor standing screen and use it to create zones within your office. For instance, you could have that quiet area we just mentioned, but you could also create team sections, or a collaborative zone. Within this area you could add collaborative office furniture, safe in the knowledge that the screens provide a barrier between those doing close work and those brainstorming and discussing. You could even consider acoustic panels to absorb the background chatter.
These screens can then be moved around as the need arises, creating a flexible and multi-purpose piece of office furniture to add to your collection.
Do you use office screens?