Creating A Productive Workplace: The expectations and demands shaping the offices of tomorrow

There are a number of factors that drive productivity, and the building blocks of improving it start with the physical space.

Businesses have been responding to the changes post-pandemic but often this is still making adaptations to what exists.

Designing a productive workplace, with the right technology included in the right way from the design phase, is an important part of creating a high-performance culture and a workplace that is a positive hub of collaboration.

This roundtable, in partnership with Universal AV, brought together 14 experts and leaders from across the property sector to discuss the changing trends and challenges in creating the productive workplaces of the future.

In this feature (part two of two) our roundtable members discuss the region’s long-term office building requirements and the challenges therein.

Carl Braim, Group Director of Wakefield-based architects The Harris Partnership, explained how massive recent increases in construction costs are not sustainable.

He said: “You factor in what BNG has done plus everything else and building costs have gone up massively in the last five years.

“It’s great that we’re creating all these things, but it feels like there’s got to be a general settling period for the industry as a whole. Not just in what we’re providing, but how will it be sustainable in the future? Rents can’t keep going up to cover all these elements that have been demanded on the industry.

“It’s not just the interiors, it’s the building, it’s the externals, it’s the landscape, it’s everything. It’s all pushing the build cost up and up and up. So that’s the bit that’s going to be interesting because if it keeps going in that direction, then we’re not going to be building offices. There’s a demand for the space but we just won’t be able to afford to do it.”

Eamon Fox, a partner at Knight Frank (real estate consultancy/estate agents), also provided an interesting insight into how quickly things are changing.

“It all comes back to the workplace. Who are the people we’re trying to recruit? Paul (Fox) and I have recently done two legal sector occupiers who have done something very different to what they thought they were going to do, because HR got involved, and HR were telling them where the younger generation want to work, where they live, where they socialise.

“The world has changed so much in the last three or four years, it’s actually embarrassing to even try and pretend to know what’s going to happen in the next ten. Seeing 18 months down the line makes you something of a magician at the minute.

“In general, companies are shedding 40% of their space, give or take, but going for a much better proposition in terms of quality and environment and location. So it’s a flight to quality and I would say 75% of our deals are in Grade A buildings, or very good buildings, or brilliant buildings.”

Richard Liddle, Senior Interior Designer at the Corstorphine & Wright, explained the thinking when it comes to new public sector spaces.

He said: “With a government building the split on the office floor plan is 40% desk task, 50% collaboration and 10% do not disturb. So the majority of their buildings is collaborative space, and that includes breakout areas and kitchens.

“But they’re also having to provide some type of gym or something else because trying to get people back in the office, post Covid, is about saying ‘we can give you this, this, this and this’, which is much better than you get at home.”

Paul Fox, a Director of chartered surveyors Fox Lloyd Jones, added that private sector builds are typically pushing up towards the 10% mark when it comes to space that might previously have been deemed as non essential.

“Getting it right at base build makes it a lot easier. Particularly, I think the communal area market is massive. We’re building 140,000 sqft new-build buildings and 10,000 feet is going over to business lounge, meeting rooms etc. It’s not obviously 10% but it’s a big element. It’s a big spend as well.”

Amanda Cook, founder of Design Tonic (Leeds), was also asked whether creating spaces to entice people back into the office was now part of the discussion.

She said: “Yeah we are getting asked that and it’s often the first question we are asked. It’s such a broad picture as well.”

Dan Platt of Ultimate Commercial Interiors agreed.

“They are having to make it look like a home from home with a decreasing floor space requirement but an increase in spend on fit-out. They are also wanting more agile working so that there’s more flexibility in terms of creating environments that can be taken with them if they move or changed if the landscape changes again.”

Steve Dobson, Workplace Consultant for Overbury, also agreed and had some interesting thoughts on the hybrid working culture and how businesses are coping with the new normal.

“So straight after the pandemic, there was a rush of people trying to do something with their space, because they have to do something. I think the good news for everybody involved in interiors is the majority of workplaces out there aren’t great. Let’s be honest.

“But then we’ve kind of come into this lull and we’re starting to see businesses, who have been a little bit more prudent with their money, waiting to see how this all pans out. ‘What is the next stage of hybrid?’

“Unfortunately, everyone knows that the uncertainty is going to continue. I think we’re still about another a decade away from understanding what hybrid actually really is and how it’s going to pan out.

“We’re still working with companies that are afraid to mandate people coming back into the office. We’ve got very traditional leadership across the UK wondering how they can get people back in five days a week without telling them to come back.”

Colin Briggs-Campbell, Director at Bowman Riley architects, asked AI (Chat GPT) what it thought the offices of the future would look like.

He said: “It’s a brief two sentences, but I think for me, it sums it up quite well. ‘The offices of the future will blend technology with human centric design, promoting collaboration, well being and flexibility. As companies adapt to changing workforce dynamics and technical advancements, these spaces will evolve to meet the demands of a more interconnected and digitally savvy workforce’.”

Tom Almas, Founder & Managing Director Wizu Workspace (flexible workspace providers), highlighted the importance of a workspace having the right feel above everything else.”

He said: “It’s about the atmosphere. We sell a feeling, a warmth and, as good as the tech and all of that stuff is, it’s still about meaningful connections with people. And that’s always really at the heart of any good workspace.”

Shelley Townend, Marketing Manager, Universal AV

Shelley Townend, marketing manager at Universal AV agreed that the beauty of Wizu is it gives one-person operations the opportunity to be part of something bigger.

She said: “I think these buildings work for that very reason, though. You might otherwise be are working out of your bedroom and that becomes very lonely very quickly for people doesn’t it? So coming somewhere like this, where you’re renting a small space, or you’re hiring a small space, where there’s lots of other people doing the same thing.”

The drive towards sustainability in the office environment has really ramped up in the last ten years and Shelley Townend has felt that keenly although she highlighted cases where cost is still the deciding factor.

She said: “There’s a huge sustainability drive. Regarding the tenders that we complete on a sustainability front within education and for the NHS, it’s all about how you’re planning to be net zero.

“We could give them several options of things that are more sustainable and will help them achieve that, but they’re maybe slightly more expensive.

“So then all the sustainability stuff goes out the window and it’s just like… ‘No, but that option is cheaper so we’re going with that’. But then you factor in the running costs for the next five years – because we do all of those calculations for them as well – and it’s going to cost you more in the long term if you buy the cheaper one.”

Richard Liddle also pointed out the desire for public sector bodies to make every penny count.

“We did a fit-out for Wirral Council and there’s a big push for anything to be recycled. So therefore, if there was a building and these things work, we would have to consider using that stuff. Same with the furniture, which is a nightmare, because then you get stuff from different decades. Because it’s public sector, it’s our money and they can’t be seen to be over indulgent.”

Leanne Wookey, Interiors Director at TP Bennett, highlighted the increasing options regarding changing the use of buildings.

“In terms of the refurb market, there’s lots and lots of potential. And I think there’s an ever-changing element. As well as the buildings that potentially were offices before, there’s now planning elements that allow that to go into service stuff, apartments… you’ve got residential too so there’s all these different changes, but there’s infrastructures that we need to be thinking about when we’re actually looking at that and the change of use.”