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 TUESDAY APRIL 6, 2021

The Upfront

It seems most people what to go back to the office - for the people

A Gensler blog the other day shed additional light on why people want or need to get back to the office. Oh sure, maybe not five days a week, but given a chance, most want to get back to the friendly confines for numerous reasons.

Gensler sees enthusiasm for returning to the office growing among workers who have spent the last year in relative isolation. And with many colleagues getting back into the workplace, remote employees are experiencing a new kind of FOMO—the fear of missing out on valuable updates, critical intel, and critical connections. Information shared in person contains rich layers of nuance and context that cannot be conveyed through a laptop computer. People want and need face-to-face interaction to excel at their jobs, they believe.

Gensler cites a robust body of research (from Deloitte, Stanford, and many others) documents how in-person collaboration accelerates creativity, supports innovation, and boosts productivity, and those aren't the only benefits that emerge when workers come together. At Gensler, they hear from clients and colleagues alike about the unexpected, intangible advantages of working in the same space—advantages that pay dividends for both business and morale.

Of course, the shift to a largely remote work model during the pandemic peak was a crucial step in preserving public health and safety. But as many can attest, working from home came with its fair share of challenges. People with school-aged children found themselves pulling double-duty as both parent and teacher. Individuals with shared or small residences were forced to repurpose living rooms, dining areas, and kitchen tables for work. And everyone spent more time than ever in front of a screen, with coworkers and loved ones relegated to the now-ubiquitous grid of a video call. On top of that, office furniture makers were forced to sell products to consumers, not corporations. Yikes.

While technology has been an essential tool for staying connected with colleagues during this global health crisis, Gensler reasons it's not a foolproof replacement for in-person engagement. "Casual conversation with coworkers has been a casualty of remote work. Typing a message in a chat box is no replacement for sharing a quick thought with someone across the table. A virtual waiting room doesn't allow trading off-the-cuff ideas before a meeting. These unscripted, unfiltered exchanges take place constantly in the office, from the break room to the board room. Indeed, some 74 percent of those who participated in Gensler's 2020 Work from Home Survey reported that people are what they miss most about the office. By returning to the workplace, we are reclaiming these moments of authentic connection that open the door to new ways of thinking, spark surprising solutions, and deepen our professional ties."

At the same time, Gensler is outfitting conference rooms at some of their offices with a large monitor and a range of technology – so virtual workers can follow along with conversations, rather than everyone shouting into a single speakerphone and writing on a whiteboard.

Finally, clients are asking Gensler to make the office of the future within budgets similar to those pre-pandemic. Still, there is a downside for the industry: Shifting costs from endless rows of workstations, free food and fitness centers to the technologies enabling new forms of collaboration, aka less furniture.

10 Things that Will Inform Post-Vaccine Workspace Design

What a ride the last year has been. Especially for those of us who design offices, where we will be dealing with the impacts of this pandemic for years to come. It’s clear that there is no putting the lid back on the box – an event of this magnitude is sure to be a catalyst for change, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

We have finally arrived at a point where things are looking up. Vaccinations are rolling out and the pace is accelerating. We’re feeling increasingly hopeful that by fall things might be a lot more like the good old days. With this exciting prospect on the horizon, it’s the perfect time to rethink workspace for the post-vaccine world.

The past year has offered many lessons which designers and architects will carry into their future work, particularly when it comes to offices. Here’s how these lessons will manifest change in the post-vaccine workspace and the top 10 concepts influencing office projects in the very near future.

Forecasting the future of workplace restaurants

The role of the workplace restaurant cannot be over-estimated in terms of its importance in bringing people back to work after the pandemic, but its long-term future will be shaped by one thing: healthy, nutritious food which is served when and where customers want it.

Of course, the short-term focus also includes providing spaces which are socially distanced, hygienic and cleverly balanced to ensure employees are both safe and inspired when they eat – whether alone or together.

Salad bars and buffets have been replaced for now with pre-portioned food and more grab-and-go options. Covid-secure food preparation and service are in place and restaurants have been re-designed to accommodate one-way systems.

Moreover, technology has allowed digital menus to reduce touchpoints, touchless condiments dispensers and even ‘click and collect’ apps which enable workers to book a time slot to both pre-order and collect and, if they wish, sit and enjoy their meal.

Businesses are realising that if they want employees back at headquarters to spark collaboration, improve morale and increase productivity, then they need to be tempted back and their mealtime, break, coffee and all-day grazing needs must be considered as a priority – not just now, but for years to come.

It is also important to note that workplace restaurants are popular and as people return to working together, businesses need to capitalise on this in order to keep employees motivated, collaborating and engaged. A survey commissioned by Compass Group earlier in 2020 showed that more than half of employees would be positively influenced to join companies that have a restaurant onsite.

In fact, having access to a staff restaurant was cited as the third most important non-financial benefit to employees, only behind health insurance and flexible hours / working from home. So, the question is: what should the future of the workplace restaurant look like? The trends we have identified include embracing challenges thrown up by the pandemic, of course, but the deepest issues revolve around how food can inspire health, wellbeing and productivity.

Office buildings are opening back up. Not all employees want to return.

On the morning Alexia Layne-Lomon returned to her office for the first time since the pandemic began, she woke up anxious. Her stomach felt queasy. Commuting into work, once a mindless daily routine, now felt foreign and risky.

Layne-Lomon, 38, of Roslindale, Massachusetts, is one of millions of employees across the country who hastily made the transition to remote work last spring. A couple of weeks ago, she went back to her building to train a new employee at the anti-poverty agency where she is the director of development and grants.

Alexia Layne-Lomon, seen in her office before the pandemic began.Courtesy of Alexia Layne-Lomon

The day was full of reminders of how much has changed since she was last in her office.

Layne-Lomon is not yet eligible for a Covid-19 vaccination, so instead of taking public transportation like she used to, she opted to drive to work. Inside her building, everyone wore masks, elevators had capacity limits to allow for social distancing, and traffic flow signs had been posted to reduce crowding in corridors.

But when she arrived on her floor, Layne-Lomon saw a familiar sight. Two co-workers with whom she had communicated only virtually since the pandemic started were there.

"It was nice to see them and have that social moment and breath of relief," she said, adding that she had to stop herself from greeting her colleagues with hugs. "It was like: 'Hey, look at us, we're all still people! We're not just these little machines!'"

As office spaces that the pandemic shuttered begin opening back up, not every employee is eager to return. With concerns from health to rusty social skills to preserving the new work-life balance that some discovered when their commutes disappeared, many are reluctant to give up their remote work setups.

"We focused a lot on what has been lost this last year," said Vaile Wright, a clinical psychologist and the senior director of health care innovation at the American Psychological Association. "Now we're at this point where it's like, 'I've lost a lot this year, but what have I gained?' I think, in particular when it comes to work, there's been a lot of gains."

Not everyone has had the luxury of working from home. But for those who have, the ability to throw in a load of laundry while they work, spend more time with family or make more home-cooked meals have been silver linings in an otherwise challenging year.

How to get employees ready to return to the office

One of the success stories of the pandemic has been the adoption of remote work. A January 2021 survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) found that 83% of employers say remote work has been successful for their company. That’s a 10% increase from a June 2020 survey.

It’s a case of good news/bad news. While some companies survived because of the strength of their remote-work initiatives, getting employees to head back to the office has its own challenges. In fact, another January survey by LiveCareer found that one-third of workers would quit before going back to the office full-time.

“We now know that remote work is good for many things, but not everything,” says global HR analyst Josh Bersin, founder of Bersin by Deloitte. At the same time, companies are going to need to balance the needs of employees with the company’s plans to get people back to the office, and happy about being there, he says.

Start with safety

The number one issue that has to be managed before employees come back to the office is safety, says Tami Simon the corporate consulting leader and senior vice president at Segal, a human resources and employee benefits consulting company. “Above all else, employees need to feel safe: physically, mentally, and financially. Employers should transparently describe how they plan to make their workplace a safe place,” she says. In addition to the physical measures companies need to take, employees need to feel like they won’t face consequences for expressing their needs or feeling reluctant to head back to the office, she says.

'Healthy buildings' enjoy a surge in demand worldwide

A new survey of many of the world’s leading real estate investors finds that 92 percent of respondents expect demand for healthy buildings to grow in the next three years. The report claims that this is a compelling signal of the direction the real estate sector is heading. This finding, among others, is captured in a report titled A New Investor Consensus: The Rising Demand for Healthy Buildings (registration) which claims to be a comprehensive health and wellness study of global real estate investment managers and stakeholders representing aggregate AUM of $5.75 trillion and portfolio investments in real estate totalling approximately US$1.03 trillion.

Coordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), the Center for Active Design (CfAD), and BentallGreenOak (BGO), the study defines healthy buildings as those optimised for occupant health and safety through a mix of siting, design and operational strategies that measurably improve physical, social and mental health indicators.

The report suggests that COVID-19 has elevated the importance of health in investment decision-making, with 89.5 percent of respondents signalling their intent to enhance their wellbeing-related asset management strategies in the coming year. The need for healthy buildings has been steadily rising over the last decade, with nearly 70 percent of respondents indicating that they were seeing increased demand prior to the pandemic.

The report claims to highlight an increasing investor awareness of the importance of health and wellbeing to their environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies and the link between building design and function, and personal and societal health and wellness. This has given rise to a more concerted focus on the “S,” or social component of ESG, which has traditionally lagged behind the more well-defined environmental and governance pillars. Currently, only 53 percent of respondents report that they incorporate health and wellness into their ESG strategies to a great extent and 42 percent note that they have begun to do so, leaving significant room for growth.

More Than 1 in 5 Company Execs Plan to Slash Office Space

Even as Covid vaccinations bring a return-to-office closer to fruition, more companies are expecting to reduce their real estate footprints.

A recent survey conducted by the American Institute of CPA found that 21 percent of company executives said they expect to reduce their office space in the next 12 months, Bloomberg News reported. That’s up by 3 percentage points from the third quarter of 2020.

Big employers including Dropbox, Zillow and Twitter have already announced that a majority if not all of their workforce can permanently work from home. Other companies have adopted hybrid models, allowing employees to come in at their own discretion.

At the same time, 72 percent of executives said they expect no change in their office footprint, down by 5 percentage points from the third quarter of 2020.

“As the recovery progresses and we move toward the next-normal, more and more people will return to their traditional places of work,” Ash Noah, vice president at the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, told the publication. “But this doesn’t change the fundamental shifts we’re seeing toward more virtual and remote operations.”

But working from home isn’t for everyone: 7 percent of respondents said they plan to increase office space, up by 2 percentage points from the third quarter of 2020.

There were 693 chief financial officers, controllers, and other senior-level certified public accountants and management accountants surveyed between Feb. 2 and Feb. 24.

Office Availability In Manhattan Up 50% Despite Increased Activity

A year after the coronavirus pandemic first struck, Manhattan’s office market is still reeling, with this century’s highest availability rate and a sharp decline in rents, first-quarter market reports released Thursday show. But an uptick in the rate of new leases signed in the first three months of 2021 could offer the first glimpse of recovery.

With not nearly enough demand to keep up with new space becoming available, availability increased over 50% from Q1 last year before the pandemic took hold in New York, reports from Savills and Colliers show. Nearly 79.7M SF of office space is available, accounting for 17.2% of its overall supply, according to Savills.

“The scale of the increase in supply that occurred over this period was really noteworthy to a point you have to take a step back,” Colliers Senior Managing Director of Research Frank Wallach said. “This is the largest office market in the United States.”

Dwindling demand continued to drive rents down significantly for the fourth quarter in a row — average asking rent declined 7.9% year-over year and 1.6% from the previous quarter, according to Colliers. Class-B and Class-C office space saw steeper quarterly declines than Class-A space.

The market did show signs of life, though, with an increase in new leases signed this quarter. Some 2.28M SF of new space, not including expansion, was leased up, more than twice as much as in the last quarter of 2020 (1.06M SF), but still nowhere near the 4.96M SF in new leases signed in Q1 of last year, according to Colliers.

“We saw the beginning stages of tenants re-engaging the markets,” Wallach said. “This is one of the early indicators. Those are all pointing to really overall what 2021 will be — a period of that re-engagement, but it is still going to be a ramp-up to get us to those pre-pandemic levels.”

More new tenants joined the leasing market too. Lease renewals and expansions made up only 40.2% of overall leasing volume last quarter, nearly 24 points down from the 64% share from Q4 2020, according to Savills.

Trendway introduces Elea®, the innovative chair that moves with you

Trendway yesterday announced the launch of Elea, an innovative task chair designed to kinetically move you. Elea’s distinct aesthetic originates from a uniquely designed suspended seat pan that promotes micromovements and energetic motion, allowing users to continuously move while seated. Elea is available for order through more than 350 Trendway dealer partners across the United States and Canada beginning today.

“The addition of the Elea chair exemplifies our commitment to leading engineering and design solutions,” said Mark Rhoades, president, Fellowes Contract Interiors. “We are leveraging our internal sophisticated engineering and design capabilities across all product categories to create new and better solutions for our customers.”

Engineered and designed by Horizon Design, the in-house Fellowes Brands industrial design team, Elea features patent-pending Omni-Kinetic Suspension Technology™ with four industrial-grade alloy steel rods to form a load-bearing support system for the suspended seat pan.

“People sit in different ways all day long. We are built to move,” said Rob Day, executive vice president of customer experience, Fellowes Contract Interiors. “Elea supports our natural tendency to sit in different positions. Once you sit in the chair, the chair will move with you.”

With traditional task chair features built-in, such as tilt lock and height and tension adjustments, Elea ensures users have the opportunity to customize their ergonomic settings.

Shingle Stool Pulls Triple Duty in Flexible Working Environments

A rocking stool, a container and a partition wall when stacked. Shingle stool really does a lot. Designed by Laura Jungmann and Jonathan Radetz, and named for the appearance of the edge of its rounded rockers, this piece of furniture is ready to take on the flexible working environments of today and tomorrow. The stool can act as mobile seating as well as visual or acoustic shielding in open office plans. Once stacked, you’ll notice how Shingle’s rounded edge turns into a graphic element – similar to a shingled roof! Flip the stool upside down and it can easily be carried as a container, handle and all. Shingle stools are made of Solid Textile Boards by REALLY, a wood-like material made from scraps of fabric and used as a sustainable board material in furniture and architecture.

Flos launches re-edition of Mario Bellini's 1969 Chiara

Flos is launching a re-edition of Chiara - originally designed by Mario Bellini for Flos in 1969 - an iconic design from a simple sheet of polished stainless steel that has been cut and rolled into a cylinder. The origami-like structure hides a lighting source, updated to LED and placed on the floor. The light it provides is reflected and diffused by a large “hat”, which resembles a nun’s wimple and veil.

The re-edition of Chiara uses cutting-edge technology and will introduce two models: the classic floor lamp in stainless steel with black edges and a new, smaller table model in a variety of finishes - aluminum with an anthracite edge, dark grey with olive green edges, and pink gold with red edges.

Bellini started designing the lamp in 1968, using paper models. The light it provides is dynamic yet soft, originating in the base, hitting the upper screen and then reflecting and diffusing into the surrounding area.

More.tv Offices – Moscow

Inspired by the ever-changing and mysterious characteristics of the sea, More.tv's Moscow offices possess a unique environment to host every element of an unpredictable work day in the media world.

ABD architects was tasked to create a spirited office in the shortest possible time for media company, More.tv, located in Moscow, Russia.

Organization of the space
At first glance, the office is traditionally zoned: workplaces are located in open space, and offices are provided for managers and top managers of the company. There are also a large number of meeting rooms, open and closed, for meetings with clients and within the company. But, in addition to working places and meeting rooms, there are numerous collaboration zones of various formats. They are scattered throughout the office, and one of these collaborative spaces is a sports area with a climbing wall and bungee jumping. A large space is reserved for temporary workplaces, which can be used, among other things, for working together during the day and for board games in the evening. Also in the office there are two spacious kitchens, one of which, with an amphitheater, is designed as a place to watch movies together.

GMi Companies Announces Promotion of John D’Agostino to President

GMi Companies, parent company of Ghent, Waddell, and VividBoard, has promoted John D’Agostino to President. In his new role, he will retain the manufacturing, marketing, product development and information technology departments, and will add his leadership to sales, customer experience, finance, and human resources. As president he will be chartered with driving future growth while sustaining Ghent, Waddell, and VividBoard positioning in the marketplace.

“I am glad to expand John’s responsibility to lead the continued growth of our enterprise,” commented CEO Mark Leasure. “He knows our people, business partners, customers, and culture and has been helping us set new records during his tenure. With his continued leadership, we are poised to continue on a successful path while remaining a company dedicated to partnership and service to our customers.”

“I am honored to lead GMi as we successfully live out our core values in the marketplace. I look forward to building upon our family culture and the value proposition we provide to partners across the country," said D’Agostino. "Our strategic direction is clear. We are charting a course for continued growth with innovation and service as the keystone to our plan.”

Dauphin Salutes Kaneez Darbar for 30 years with the Company

Dauphin is proud to recognize Kaneez Darbarfor 30 years of commitment and dedication to the company.

Kaneez who was recently named National Accounts Manager, started as an Administrative Assistant to former Dauphin President, Gary Chin. When Kaneez first joined Dauphin, she was a single mom “just looking for a paycheck”, little did she know she was at the beginning of a successful 30-year career.

“Dauphin has offered me many opportunities and encouraged me to take on roles that were beyond my expectations 30 years ago. I realized that I had leadership qualities I would never have known existed if not for the support of Dauphin management,” Kaneez explained.

Gary remembers it differently and gives Kaneez all the credit, “She figured out early that she could be successful in a sales role and flourished in a very short time span. Moving up the ranks quickly, Kaneez was promoted to sales management and hasn’t looked back since heading up her own team.”

“In retrospect,” Kaneez adds, “I see that my sprit was never suppressed at Dauphin. My input has always been valued and I always felt like an equal. My gender and ethnicity were never an issue. I never even thought about it. This inspires me to give back to the company and go beyond the call of duty.”

Giving back includes mentoring new sales team members. As New York Regional Manager for five years, Kaneez trained and managed many of Dauphin’s small team of direct salespeople (Account Managers). Till this day she is training reps along the East Coast and guiding them to flourish including some who have also taken on leadership roles within Dauphin.

Dauphin President, Matthew Negron feels grateful to Kaneez. “2020 could have been the year that broke Dauphin, but instead it became the year of opportunity, change, and evolution, which would not have been possible without Kaneez. She has a wealth of experience and industry knowledge that allows us to experiment and make changes, but at the same time, she ensures we don’t repeat past mistakes. Kaneez is the glue of the sales team and I count on her every day. She is always transparent, honest, and will push back when there is a difference of opinion. Having a “Kaneez” on your team is not only a need but a must for every company to be successful.”

Lugg wants to be the Instacart of furniture delivery

No one likes moving furniture. Whether you’re switching houses or just bringing in a new piece of upholstery, it’s big, it’s bulky, and even when you find movers that will do a good job, the logistics of scheduling can be a nightmare. Jordan Brown, co-founder and CEO of on-demand furniture delivery service Lugg, saw a business opportunity in these challenges.

The idea came to him when he was shopping at Ikea and discovered that not only would his new sofa take a week to arrive, but there would be a four-hour delivery window on a workday. “[I realized that] furniture stores either didn’t offer delivery or the delivery times were just so chaotic,” Brown tells Business of Home. “Nowadays, people are so used to the Ubers, Lyfts, Instacarts—why not push a button and have your furniture delivered the same way?” So in 2015, he and Eric Kreutzer launched Lugg as a moving service that brings the real-time vehicle tracking of Uber to same-day furniture delivery.

Through the app or website, users can book a “Lugger” to assist with furniture deliveries, apartment moves, and even trips to donation centers or dumps—if it’s furniture, they’ll move it where you want it, up to 150 miles away. Clients can book their preferred delivery window up to 30 days in advance or on the same day, selecting from four vehicle sizes and specifying the number of movers—from one guy and a truck all the way up to an XL Lugg, with two movers and a 10-foot-long vehicle.

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