Is there too much co-working space? Has the super-stripped-back office had its day? With the British Council of Offices Conference taking place this week, the AJ asked some of the nation’s leading office designers for their answers
There are few better bellwethers of the state of the office development industry than the mood and topics of discussion at the annual BCO Conference.
The AJ, as media partner to the BCO, asked some of the nation’s leading commercial designers to give their predictions about the future of the ever-evolving office.
What one thing do you think needs to change in the next generation of offices?
Paul Monaghan, co-founder, AHHM
‘Tenancy agreements need to be more flexible and less punitive. Many small businesses are unclear about growth and need flexibility. The growth of co-working, with its ‘pay as you go’ philosophy, is testament to this.’
Jacob Loftus, chief executive and founder, General Projects
‘The focus of the building needs to be reorientated around the individual employee, focusing on their user experience, and delivering both aspirational design and providing space that functions as a service. The last generation of offices were designed for CEOs and corporations; the next will be designed for people.’
J-J Lorraine, co-founder, Morrow + Lorraine
‘Offices have to be made to do more for longer. Offices are empty two days out of seven and when you factor in the broadly diurnal patterns of working, they are empty for twice as long as they are occupied. Isn’t that totally mad?’
John McRae, co-owner, ORMS
‘Acoustics. The ability to create quiet and lively zones within an open-plan, densely occupied space is vitally important, albeit difficult to achieve. It needs an in-depth understanding of the occupier’s team to pull this off successfully. This is a real challenge for speculative office developers but perhaps an opportunity to bring occupiers and developers together at an earlier stage to deliver a better product.’
Hazel Rounding, director, shedkm
‘There needs to be a greater cohesion between CAT A and CAT B designers. There are plenty of really informed and creative architects these days who can produce innovative shell-and-core/CAT A space, only to have it ‘un-picked’ by the fit-out designers. Exceptional CAT B design is plentiful in existing buildings and for smaller businesses, but we need to educate some of the large corporate tenants in good modern interior design for the benefit of their workforce.’
Julian de Metz, co-founder, dMFK Architects
‘Sensibly priced office space suitable for small companies needs to be maintained. Light industrial space was traditionally relatively affordable. However, many good-quality office buildings are being lost through conversion to residential, particularly through the Permitted Development (PD) route. I would favour stopping those PD rights.’
Read the entire article at architectsjournal.co.uk