Why choice, control and connectivity are the new drivers for office design
The rapid change over to home working brought about by the pandemic has accelerated developments that were already apparent in our places of work. Facilitated by technology, our new agile ways of working across locations and time zones allows us to choose not only when we work, but also how and where. In short, we can have the ultimate in choice, control and connectivity.
If we add net zero carbon, future proofing and the fact that most of our workplaces are already built into the re-thinking process, our challenge now is also how to sustainably adapt existing building stock to create desirable people-centric workplaces that are adaptable to meet the new demands of their occupiers, within the context of our net zero carbon challenge? Work has become a thing we do rather than a place we go to.
Our concept of the workplace becoming more of a destination considers the advantages and disadvantages of working at home and the positives and negatives of working at the office. In effect we are re-visiting Ebenezer Howard’s socio-economic concept depicted in the famous Three Magnets diagram, except we are considering home and office rather than town and country. In his diagram Howard poses the central question, “the people, where will they go?”.
“We're excited about the possibilities and opportunities for workplace design as we need to give people choice and control over when, where and how they work now the boundaries of home and work are blurred. There is a new acceptance of flexibility but many are missing the interaction of the workplace.”
Cian Scanlon, Associate
As working is no longer about travelling to a place to conduct our work and then travelling home again, this new concept of ultimate choice, control and connectivity requires a radical reappraisal of conventional assumptions regarding the role and design of the office. We can choose to be there or not, at home we have control over our environment and scheduling, in the office though we have real human interaction.
To entice workers, we firstly understand that virtual connection cannot replace physical human interaction. So, if we integrate high-quality amenity spaces that blur the boundary of work, leisure, urban and suburban; the future office can continue to bring people physically together and also go beyond its conventional role with activity and better productivity.
The atrium in a typical office building is infilled with an adaptive spine to connect outward
We took a typical large office building and thought about how we could change it. The building’s archetypal, inward-facing, and sterile atrium is infilled with a new adaptable timber structure, which is then expanded to take the form of a central adaptive spine. This armature for collective activity is the building’s ‘forum’, it connects all areas of the building and provides high-quality spaces to meet and work with access to nature. It is designed to be highly adaptable and can be dismantled and re-assembled to suit changing needs.
Social green spaces and gardens can spring up on roofs, replacing plant equipment
Verdant gardens are integrated into the building to improve air quality and mental health and to contribute to the wider network of London’s enduring garden squares. Outward-facing, terraced winter gardens are cut into the façade creating permeable and active frontages and landscaped projecting terraces are added to create highly stimulating and attractive spaces.
The incorporation of a 5th generation heat network allows the existing roof mounted plant to be removed and replaced with an adaptable timber pavilion capped by a new garden square with views out across the city. With office workers spending over 90% of their lives indoors, the gardens are designed as highly desirable, ‘rus en urbe’ oasis’, providing a calm breathing space while fostering community and exchange and promoting internal air quality.
The environment strategy is a sustainable and low energy solution
Work-life integration is required to achieve work-life balance. Exploiting technology to blur and overlap traditional functions gives people access to green space, retail, leisure, and wellness. The building operates an ‘access economy model’, giving occupiers maximum choice and control. Occupiers are free to choose between the ‘buzz’ of a stimulating environment or effective spaces for focused work according to their needs and preferences. All space is considered ‘workspace’, designed for intensive and intermittent use on a ‘7-11’ model, and monetised via multiple income streams. A restaurant is a meeting room and furniture and homewares store. Everything in the building can be shoppable with the offering constantly updated to maximise seasonal revenue.
This re-imagined office building is a co-working friendly building with initiatives which are designed to improve social connection to significantly improve the experience of working. It responds to people’s physical and psychological needs and evolves to reflect changing working patterns and the needs of its occupants. The combination of ‘high-tech’, flexible workspaces and relatively ‘low tech’, thriving green spaces is an aspirational but attainable goal that offers a pragmatic solution to the challenges currently facing the office sector. This physical solution can be scaled up or down to suit budget and location.