‘Not Dead, But Definitely Different: The Workplace Overhaul’

With businesses starting to reopen and the government asking companies to have their employees return to the office, what is the view of the occupier, developer, property consultant and architect?

More than 400 participants signed up for the BISNOW webinar on 13 July which Edge hosted with a panel from Joules, Hollis, General Projects and Colliers International. The speakers shared their views on what they had found successful during the lockdown and talked about how they believe the workplace will evolve with offices opening and the attendees voted in a short poll during the event.

The great working from home experiment has been overwhelmingly successful

Lyn Warren, Retail and People Director at Joules kicked off with explaining how the experience had been positive overall. It is clear that COVID has accelerated the changes that were already taking place in terms of the use of digital tools. Embracing new technology had made it possible to collaborate effectively and also supported their recruitment of new talent and bringing these new employees into the business at speed. When Joules does go back into its new office designed by Edge, the company will not go back to the traditional way of working. Having experienced the benefits of remote working, employees will have the freedom of choice and whether they come in will depend upon their individual circumstances.

The new 60,000 sq. ft. Joules HQ, Designed by Edge Architecture + Design

Dan Roberts, Head of Workspace Consultancy, Hollis, said that their most recent employee health and wellbeing survey showed -

loneliness and isolation are real issues with remote working and that 70 – 80% indicated that they wanted to get back to the office. Long-term they would want a mixture.

A recent survey by Robert Walters with over 5,000 employees bears this up – only 13% want of the office workers questioned want to go back to the office full-time and the remaining 87% want more flexibility to work remotely.

With reports that 30 of the largest employers in the City of London saying they only intend to bring a maximum of 40 per cent of their workforce back to obey social distancing regulations, what is the future for the large city office? Dan said that he doesn’t see companies abandoning city centre locations. They will still want to be close to clients and to make important decisions face-to-face. What will change is that occupiers will want shorter leases, more flexible arrangements and a variety of spaces.

Aligning people with the physical space

Michael, Edge Principal and Board Director, said that the brief for the new Joules office was emotive – this was to be a space that empowered and enriched the feeling of the brand. To get to the best design designers need to truly understand the client business; who they are and how they work. With remote working proving to be successful for many types of work, this is the time to evaluate the office space in terms of its efficiency, its impact on people’s happiness and as the physical embodiment of a brand and its values. Making offices safe is an opportunity to re-examine the reasons why people choose to visit the office. Keeping a dialogue with clients and users to understand their concerns are key. He also made the point that it doesn’t make sense to invest too much in social distancing physical changes because just as quickly as companies put up Perspex screens, regulations will change, leaving a massive amount of waste.

Managing people’s desire to go back into the office – their expectations and the communications around this new experience – are at heart of a successful return.

The office: renewed purpose and value

Jacob Loftus, Founder and CEO of General Projects, said that in the next era of working, half will be in the office and half will be at home, and the issue is how to mesh these two together.

The office won’t be where quiet work will be done, but instead will be creative spaces where people really want to come. The office will be more experiential, sustainable and healthy.

With Joules, as Lyn said, there will be certain points in the business cycle when it will be important for people to come together in person. They have been spending a good amount of time discussing the furniture as they work out how use the space to be creative, collaborative, and particularly important, in connecting people in the office with those working from home. The office will be a place of connection and celebration.

In the end, as the moderator, Jan Jaap Boogaard, Head of EMEA Workplace Advisory, at Colliers International, concluded –

the discussion was really about people.

Insights from the live poll

Replay the discussion for yourself