Will an office HQ or a central business district still be alive and kicking post-COVID? What does this mean for the re-imagined office of the future?

The pandemic has given us the opportunity to build a secure, intelligent, and diverse workplace platform that solves some of the world’s greatest problems at scale.  

 

COVID-19 will not empty cities - cities adapt.  It will not be the death of the HQ office – organisations still need a home. But it has demonstrated the desirability of networks of physical offices that better leverage the connections, capabilities and collaboration potential of the internet.

 

Our connection to colleagues brings pivotal value to an office and such value translates to efficiency and productivity, which offices – not zoom calls – are uniquely placed to deliver.

The pandemic has been an enforced experiment, a rapid test of emerging workplace theory, accelerating change. We have seen that tasks that are process driven are far more easily achieved than those that demand close collaboration. We have realised that we are missing our connection to colleagues and opportunities to learn, chat and come together to solve complex challenges. 

 

We also see inequalities growing and generational gaps widening. Just as the internet tends to amplify extremes, the pandemic has thrown a lens on the difficulties of no or poor access to the internet and of being young, BAME, and/or a woman. Despite the internet’s ability to connect us to a world of information, we have become more aware of its potential to narrow our horizons, feeding us the views of people who are like us, rather than the diversity we encounter in the real world of work. 

 

Early research suggested that only 20% of office workers want to return full time, but as the pandemic has dragged on through both a second and third lockdown, there is a greater desire to return to the office for at least three days a week or more. 

 

Having achieved some level of normality working from home, many employees are nervous about their return. Arguably, it is not the concept of the office environment that employees fear, it is the commute. It is no surprise that in the order of unhappiness ratings #1 is death, #2 is divorce and #3 is commuting, with the duration of commute having a direct impact on the likelihood of divorce - not just our willingness to return to the office.  

 

Each country has weathered the COVID storm in its own way, for better or worse. There is however, no doubt that the pandemic has prioritised and accelerated the adoption of health and wellbeing strategies. The future office will embrace balance, fitness and sustainability. We can imagine that our new workplace will feel familiar, but will be organised in a very different way, with more integrated technology and distributed sets of nomadic workers according to projects, themes and departments. 

 

We should think of buildings as part of an intelligent network with an HQ linked to remote hubs and even the home desk.  

 

Typically, pre-pandemic utilisation was at 60% for an office. Presenteeism and absenteeism was high, and there was a lack of management trust. Rather than embracing the opportunity of working with the 60% utilisation, many CRE’s would still drive an office with a seat for every employee. 

 

Now it is likely that we will create an ecosystem of physical and virtual experiences that support our convenience, functionality, sustainability, and wellness.

 

The post-pandemic office needs to actively entice employees to leave the comforts and convenience of working from home, providing experiences that are inspirational, innovative, educational and supporting our everyday community needs. It is what we want to connect to that matters. 

 

Where before we experienced landlords and occupiers squeezing as many people as possible into a building and reducing the amenity space, we are already seeing the change. Imagine less dense (1 person per 12m2), agile offices with health clinics, supporting physios, doctors and dentists, meeting and auditorium spaces shared by offices and even hotels, with touch down project areas and flexible team spaces. 

 

Without workplaces we lose creativity, productivity, community, and diversity. 

Un-reformed and unloved workplaces are better left in the past.

We are now entering a race for quality and amenity to attract and entice workers back.

Lessons from lockdown will rapidly accelerate technology adoption.

We will create networks of connected workplaces.

The desk is no longer king, and the squeeze for density is over.

Our offices and cities will adapt, evolve, survive and thrive.

Written in collaboration with Ed Garrod, Elementa Consulting and James Pack, Sentinel RPI Ltd