Ennead Partner Peter Schubert was recently interviewed for a Crain's New York Business article about the future of office spaces. shared how offices can take cues from college campuses to create collaborative environments that create opportunities for learning and inspiration.
Of course, employers aren’t doing this so employees can hang out all day and play games. Offices are being designed with productivity in mind. It’s all about “collaboration.” Which is why employees need to be in the office, according to firms like Goldman Sachs and other finance companies that are requiring employees to return to the 5-day in-office workweek. And why most industries are trying to get them there.
Landlords are heeding the call, with “much more collaborative space, lounge-type spaces, bars, restaurants,” said Craig Deitelzweig, president and CEO of Marx Realty. “What we've also seen is many more conferencing spaces, larger cafes. And I think that's the future of the office.”
To inspire workers, the newest offices go beyond the cubicle or the open plan. Office buildings like One Madison are structured more like college campuses.
There could be “a wide variety of platforms, anywhere from alone rooms, together rooms, medium together rooms, casual rooms that are part of a cafe, to screens set up in the hallway where people can meet and have a spontaneous conversation,” said Peter Schubert, a partner in Ennead Architects International. “It really is kind of an orchestrated day now of conversations,” he said.
If people have to come back to the office, he said, they need a reason. “I think people want to come to work to learn, and that's twofold. They want to learn from each other. But I think somehow the corporations, like universities, have to set up an exchange program of ideas that really makes people excited to be there and really sponsor key discussions,” he said.
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