Research spaces - help!

Gentle blog readers, I need your help! We're running a workshop on Monday about the physical design of research spaces and we need examples. Can you post comments explaining your fave place for really getting good research done and also places where you never get anything done? Or you could email me photos.
Happily my office is a great research space because I love the view of my personal wheat field and I see lots of sky.
Thanks everyone!

Comments

[Valerie]

Hmm the most important things for me are what I am sitting on and the noise around me. I seem to be most productive when I can sit cross legged on a big comfy sofa (with a cup of tea ofcourse) with the option of putting on some music if I want to break the silence.

I am least productive on hard seating where I can't wiggle around or be comfy and where there is either a lot of noise I can't control (e.g crush area) or there is no noise at all (library). I also don't like to be surrounded by a lot of people because it's really distracting.

If it's sunny I like to sit in a field or garden on a big blanket but well.. we see very little sun ;)

Don't know if this is of any use but there you go!

[Rob Stewart]

For me, I'm most productive when I am able to rotate my working environment. My lab, my bedroom, Edinburgh library.. they're all good areas, but none of them for weeks at a time. You should never listen to your favourite music record on repeat - you'll end up hating it. The rotation keeps me energized, and whenever I feel the rot setting in, I move to the next venue.

So, there is not one "perfect" research space in my mind, it completely depends on mindset, the work involved (hacking vs reading), and the time of day. Sometimes, for example, I need "Steve Wright in the Afternoon" (BBC Radio 2), and sometimes he's the ultimate distraction (deliberately, I think).

[Computers]

Thats a tough question i think my passion is dead for web design programming ect maybe the environment i am in thats not helping but when i do get things done no music has to be on also it has to be dead quite as i distracted real easy but one thing i have found out if i go to the gym do a hard work out come back jump on the computer my productivity gets a real boost...