As businesses around the world begin to adapt to a COVID-safe workplace, there are many ideas, concerns, and visions of what the future office may look like. Many companies are already turning to technology to help them ensure their offices are as safe as possible. The pandemic has heightened the demand for improved health and wellbeing within workplaces. This was becoming more of a requirement before the outbreak. Companies introduced healthy lighting, flexible working hours, and innovative technology to improve tasks, but the Covid-19 outbreak has fast-tracked this. Soler from Willmott Dixon states that over ‘the last few years, companies were already looking into more flexible working, using videoconferencing to avoid unnecessary travel and working from home. In some ways, the lockdown was a catalyst to really test these new measures and analyse their impact on workforce efficiency’ (Soler 2020). As mentioned, wellbeing was also gaining prominence in office design, and we already know this is intrinsically linked to staff absenteeism, physical and mental health. This will be at the heart of future office design, and the notion of people working from their kitchen table, sofa, or ironing board, with children and dogs in the background of conference calls, will soon be part of the workplace normal. While it’s been harder to draw a line between work and private time, there has been an element of comfort that may have been good for productivity (Soler 2020).

‘We're now hyperaware of health risks, whether real or imagined. And employers are hypersensitive about the potential for liability if people get sick at work’ - Albert De Plazaola, global strategy director at design firm Unispace (Mudditt 2020). Employee’s expectations have changed; their basic needs now include many more aspects that help to make them feel comfortable and safe in the office. Otherwise, they may refuse to return to work. ‘Employees will be less tolerant of working in places that don’t promote health and wellbeing. As well as introducing more staircases and more generous spaces for staff, it’s going to be a case of looking at how we get fresh air into the building and naturally remove pathogens from the air’ - Darren Comber, the chief executive of architecture practice Scott Brownrigg (Boland 2020).

‘Common themes for an optimal ‘return to the office’ solution include touchless technology, cleaning strategies, and re-planned areas to maintain distancing with one-way circulation’ (Soler 2020).

In the first instance, the ‘contemporary informal open-plan set-up needs to be modified’ (Century Office 2020); this is no longer a suitable environment as germs can be spread too easily. We will expect to see more 2m distance signage, arrows on the floor, screens around desks, employees more spaced out, and working staggered shifts – but ultimately putting hygiene at the heart.

Another option suggested by Amanda Stanaway (Sydney-based principal architect of architectural and consulting practice Woods Bagot) could be ‘shunning a crowded central hub for a distributed set of smaller offices that may be closer to where staff live, [this] could mean less exposure to infectious diseases like Covid-19 on public transport. ‘Having small groups of people working collaboratively would address the need for connections and improved mental health, but without risking massive exposure, where one person gets the virus, and everyone else has to self-isolate’ (Mudditt 2020).

The pandemic has also been an interesting time for employers, too, with many reflecting and thinking, ‘actually, do we need so much space?’ says BCO chief executive Richard Kauntze. For many, the answer will likely be no (Boland, 2020). Traditional stigmas of working from home have largely banished since the pandemic forced many of us to stay at home. This has equipped many employees with a greater work-life balance and a level of flexibility they have never experienced before. ‘According to a survey which took data from 1.5 million sources by Cushman & Wakefield, around 72% of staff expected their companies to embrace flexible working after the lockdown lifts (Boland 2020). However, more than half of younger workers are said to be struggling with working from home, given they are less likely to have the space to work in and are unable to socialise as much (Boland 2020). Working from home sometimes and utilising a smaller office for collaboration and innovation may be a better option.

‘Perhaps unsurprisingly,…data also reveals that digital collaboration is growing, not least in the public sector, where collaboration has risen by 142%. This digital workflow has seen growth in the number of apps we're using, including services for videoconferencing, chat and messaging, cloud storage and sharing tools’ (Gaskell 2020). There is a strong environmental benefit to this if it is maintained going forward; stopping unnecessary travel and meetings and doing them virtually stops the vast amount of pollution we saw globally before lockdown. This can also positively impact employees as they are not wasting time commuting to and from a meeting place; therefore, they can use their time more wisely.

In the longer term, ‘experts predict that society’s heightened awareness of contagious diseases could usher in a new type of office – one that has elements in common with a hospital’ (Mudditt 2020). There are conversations around air filtration systems that use ultra-violet light; companies may decide to use heavy UV cleaning when everyone has gone home to make sure that the air is as clean as possible.

Another concept that may emerge is the ‘contactless office’ – something experts predict could become widespread among organisations who can afford it.

‘For example, employees could eliminate the need to press communal buttons by using their smartphone to send a command to the elevator or staff coffee machine…Conference rooms could be fitted out with voice-activated technologies to control lighting, audio, and visual equipment. Passing through doors or flushing the toilet would require a simple wave, while self-service in office kitchens could become a relic of the past, to be replaced with automation or a dedicated server’ (Mudditt 2020). Therefore, this is another example of how Covid-19 has accelerated IoT adoption, creating a healthy, interconnected, accessible smart office with health and wellbeing at the centre.

Zaha Hadid Architects’ new headquarters for the Bee’ah waste management company in Sharjah, UAE, is another example and a glimpse of the future. ‘It is packed with what ZHA calls ‘contactless pathways’, whereby employees rarely need to touch the building with their hands. Office doors open automatically using motion sensors and facial recognition, while lifts - and even a coffee - can be ordered from a smartphone’ (Kretchmer 2020).

‘Technology could also be used to remind employees of social distancing. Cushman & Wakefield has installed beacons into its office to track employees’ movements via their mobile phones, potentially sending alerts when six-feet [2 metre] rules are breached’ (Kretchmer 2020).

Through movement sensors and other digital tracking products, companies can adapt spaces to the needs of employees. ‘Integrated smart technologies record energy data and automate energy use, enabling the building to learn from employee behaviours and remember their preferences’ (Liu 2020).

‘There’s also the idea that companies could more aggressively monitor for sick employees. One possibility is embedding sensors underneath desks to monitor body temperatures, with a facilities manager alerted when someone has a fever. ‘This kind of technology already exists and wouldn’t be tough to integrate,’ says De Plazaola. ‘But it raises huge privacy issues. HR and legal departments would need to weigh in on whether this is the right course to pursue (Mudditt 2020). Many companies would feel that using technology for this purpose is an invasion of privacy, and it raises moral issues that could backfire on companies. However, people will definitely be more aware of illness, and going to work when you’re sick may become socially unacceptable.

In a CNBC article (Liu 2020), they have gone one step further, visualizing how the future office may look; some of the ideas discussed are below:

Free-standing privacy booths - These offer the comforts of a singular, private work station, including a desk, soundproof walls, power outlets, and ventilation.

Wellness hub - A focus on wellness is translating to the office space, design experts say. For example, Room partnered with the meditation app Calm in October 2019 to create a meditation booth for office use. Other wellness spaces, such as nap pods, have become a fixture in cutting-edge offices.

A residential look and feel - Companies are using residential design elements, such as soft seating and bookcases that mimic a home’s living room, to create a space where employees don’t want to rush out at 5 o’clock - Andrea Callo.

Whatever the outcome of the future office, there will most definitely be changes both cosmetically to the office design and mentally for employees and employers. Living through a global pandemic will have a long-lasting impact on how we work and how our workplaces function, but it is clear to see how smart technology will benefit these environments from now on.

References:

Soler 2020. The future office post-Covid-19. https://www.willmottdixon.co.uk/blog/the-future-office-post-covid-19, accessed 12/06/20.

Mudditt 2020. How offices will change after coronavirus. https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200514-how-the-post-pandemic-office-will-change accessed 12/06/20.

Boland 2020. The future of the office – what could the modern workplace look like https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2020/05/13/future-office-could-modern-workplace-look-like/ accessed 12/06/20.

Century Office 2020. Post coronavirus offices. https://www.century-office.co.uk/Post-coronavirus-offices, accessed 12/06/20.

Gaskell 2020. Will We Return To The Office After COVID-19 https://www.forbes.com/sites/adigaskell/2020/04/28/will-we-return-to-the-office-after-covid-19/#76a522f7b1f8, accessed 12/06/20.

Kretchmer 2020. COVID-19: Is this what the office of the future will look like https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/covid19-coronavirus-change-office-work-homeworking-remote-design/ accessed 12/06/20.

Liu 2020. From privacy booths to smart parking garages: These photos show what offices of the future will look like. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/04/see-the-trends-in-office-design-that-will-change-the-way-we-work-2020.html, accessed 12/06/20.

What does the future office look like?