Gensler’s work in digital experience design (DXD) is part of an industry-wide trend focused on how to integrate software and new technologies into office design to create a connected workplace. Intelligent systems, new types of building software, and sensors are allowing for unprecedented connections between people and the places they live and work, and this is opening up exciting possibilities. We sat down with Gensler’s Richard Tyson to talk about how new technologies are shaping office design, and what Gensler and others should be doing to prepare for a new type of connected workplace.
Can you give us an idea of what we mean when we talk about “connected places?”
Historically, when architects and designers have talked about digital experiences in physical spaces, they’ve tended to mean immersive experiences driven by screens, projection, and spatial interaction. Today, that often means augmented reality and virtual reality that can place digital information in a space. But that’s no longer the extent of it.
Increasingly, we have to design for how people are connected to their workplace through mobile and wearable technology, as well as the intelligence we can apply from the sensing and data that these technologies enable. As more and more things in the built environment are connected to one another over the Internet or through the Internet of Things (IoT) — screens, sensors, mobile phones, cameras, elevators, etc. — the experience of place is increasingly about the ways in which software services can tailor environments and empower people. Places should be immersive, connected, and intelligent.
I’ve heard you say that we’re moving from a hardware world to a software world. What do you mean when you say we’re living in a software world?
Well, let’s consider the traditional doctor’s office waiting room. In the past, you used to check in with the receptionist and then sit down to wait until the nurse called you in. Now there are digital platforms that will allow you to make an appointment and check in without having to be present. Your phone is the waiting room. And in theory this means that you don’t have to design a waiting room any longer. That’s an oversimplification. The bottom line is that we’re in the midst of a radical transformation of physical things and places because of advances in software and the application of data. You could argue that the nature of work is changing because of this shift.
Can you expand on that? How is software impacting the workplace?
The boom in coworking and flexible spaces is only possible because of software. How can you have hot desking and know which desk is free without sensors and software? For developers and building owners who are getting into real estate as a service, you must be able to track occupancy and put your inventory online. That can only happen because of cloud services.
The orchestration of many online services — which are software-based services — is what makes a flexible space possible. It’s also how we can create truly connected places. Coworking is as much about connecting people together in a meaningful way as it is about offering a place to work.