As the retail footprint in office buildings shrinks – the result of an ever-rising tide of online shopping – landlords are layering amenity after amenity into public spaces. That could mean coffee, a bar, televisions, breakout space, and retail areas that have become more showroom than store. “It’s more efficient to fulfill the sale digitally – people are buying into a brand, but not buying the brand in retail space,” they say.
Their practice’s focus is on how office buildings and their neighborhoods provide what was once common in the workplace. This new twist is a model that started on the residential level – in buildings with small apartments and larger, common living rooms for hosting parties. “It’s even larger now for commercial space – it’s a place to meet that doesn’t feel like a conference room – it feels like your living room,” they say.