PlanRadar, a leading digital construction, real estate and facilities management platform, has published the latest report in its ‘Architecture of the Future’ series: ‘The Offices of the Future’.
The key takeaway from the research is the paradigm shift in workplace perceptions since the COVID-19 pandemic, which has ushered in a sea change in approaches to office layout, design, and co-working spaces.
The single, dominant change, registered across almost all territories covered (excluding the US) is a stagnation, and in some cases contraction, in office size.
Most are expecting the workspace to remain at pre-pandemic size or shrink (80%) due to an increasingly remote, multi-location workforce.
Flux Capacity
The relative lack of growth in physical office floorspace can be attributed to a number of different factors, but the rapid rise of remote working, catalysed by Coronavirus is the most obvious and prominent.
Employees globally are exhibiting an evolving preference for a more flexible, part-time approach to in-office attendance, indicating a definitive end to the age of ‘presentee-ism’ as an indicator of productivity.
This has encouraged many businesses to look at how this emerging attitude can play to their commercial advantage, downsizing space and improving staff’s at-home capabilities. Savings made can then be allocated to growing digital, or other operational requirements.
The Flexible Office
The rise of the remote and semi-remote worker has, inevitably, encouraged a rise in flexi-desk work, with workers now expected to schedule allocated days in a phased approach.
Putting this in context, over 50% of professionals in the US alone now work remotely, followed by almost 40% in the UK and over a fifth in the majority of other countries analysed. All predicted this trend to strengthen, except Spain which, anomalously, believed there would be a decline in remote working.
This more elastic attitude towards the traditional office has been complemented by an explosion in the number of co-working spaces now available internationally. Although these assets were increasing before the pandemic, the amount has rocketed over the last couple of years, with the UK now hosting over 6,000 of them. Over 42 different countries now also offer digital visas, encouraging the further take up of remote working
Where are co-working spaces most popular?
Interestingly, co-working spaces are particularly on the rise in suburban and rural areas, reflecting the mass urban exodus of many professionals during the Pandemic. As many have moved to the countryside following the lifting of restrictions, co-work space developers are seeing an opportunity to offer workers the benefits of a comfortable professional environment, with great connectivity, closer to home. It means they can interact closely with their employer’s HQ without the burden of a daily commute.
Designing for Purpose
The ‘Office of the Future report’ also reveals that the fundamental purpose of the office is also changing and is in fact undergoing a radical transformation. What’s clear is these venues are no longer the consistent destination for the working week.
Now, it has become a location for specific, predominantly social, collaborative activities, fostering team culture or for face-to-face client meetings. This is emphasised by an increasing preference for collaborative, open-plan environments, which are better suited for group work and team activities.
Additionally, the report also highlighted a number of emerging design trends. In most countries, there’s a growing interest in flexible spaces. This includes, but is not limited to, moveable partitions, modular meeting pods and lightweight furniture which enable the workplace layout to flex with agility to fluctuating staff levels and business requirements.
Commenting on the report, Ibrahim Imam, Co-CEO of PlanRadar says:
“Whilst the world was tentatively moving towards a more hybrid or fully-remote model in 2019, the Pandemic acted as the catalyst to transform both employer and employee attitudes towards the physical workspace. Now these assets are less regarded as places to show up at day-to-day and have changed purpose, becoming locations where ideas are shared and developed in a collaborative environment. We´re seeing the development of a more flexible and productive professional landscape.”
Co-CEO Sander van Rijt adds:
“Despite the change, there are plenty of opportunities for office specifiers and developers, evidenced in the growth of co-working spaces in rural and suburban areas. Equally there is massive retrofit potential for existing spaces which need to adapt to the new norm. It’s a different market now, but also an exciting one.”
Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.