*Linowes Design Associates founder Elyse Linowes*

Working from home is starting to look a lot different. As remote work increases, multifamily landlords are increasingly swapping out clubroom or lobby space for coworking. It can serve as an amenity for residents, and some multifamily owners are taking an extra step — bringing in outside coworking tenants, monetizing the space and perhaps drawing in new residents along the way. Though they come from the same roots, designing coworking for multifamily is different than building it in office, experts say.

About 70% of professionals around the globe work away from the office at least once a week, according to a 2018 report by workspace company IWG. That number is expected to explode and fuel coworking demand — the Global Coworking Unconference Conference predicts coworking members will boom from 1.7 million in 2017 to 5.1 million in 2022.

Remote work primarily means working from home. FlexJobs reports that 2.9% of the American workforce is based from home for at least half of their workweek. The majority of remote work is happening in the home — 78% of remote workers primarily work from home versus only 12% in coworking spaces, according to a 2018 survey by Buffer.

To meet this rush of demand, designing common areas in multifamily to include workspaces has changed dramatically over the last two years, according to Linowes Design Associates founder Elyse Linowes, whose firm specializes in multifamily design.