A common co-working area at Aspire Tucson student housing.
Gensler’s latest workplace research shows that most people’s preferred place to work is the office, even though many felt they were most effective when they had the option to work from home or remotely for part of the week. Now that COVID-19 has forced many out of the office and into a work-from-home situation, people have had to adapt. The need for an effective home office is a trend that won’t go away anytime soon.
As working from home gains acceptance and more roles are fulfilled in remote settings, the fundamental principles of workplace design will still apply — just in a residential context. In 2008, Gensler’s research established a framework for understanding work through the lens of four modes: focus, collaborate, learn, and socialize. We discovered that workplaces that integrated spaces to support all four of the work modes saw higher levels of employee engagement. How would these same four modes apply in a work from home model?
For starters, multifamily residential buildings will need to be rethought, both in terms of dwelling units and communal amenity areas. How do we do this while still addressing these four modes? How do you focus when the kids are home? How do you collaborate effectively on video calls when you’re trying to hide the pile of dirty dishes in the sink behind you? Do you really have an ergonomic workstation when you’re sitting in a dining room chair and your laptop is propped up on a milk crate on your dining table?
The recent residential trend has been to reduce unit sizes in the name of efficiency: just enough space for a living room seating arrangement, perhaps enough room for a dining table, a tight kitchen, and a sleeping area. While this trend will likely continue, we now need to consider how a home office could be part of the mix. It should go beyond simply designing a niche that can barely hold an IKEA desk. Perhaps landlords will be willing to offer predesigned workstation packages as a leasing incentive. Such a package could be designed to bring a focus space into the unit — one that includes a desk, ergonomic desk chair, lighting, and built-in storage. For tenants who don’t work from home, a design option for a crafting station or a recessed two-seat dining table could serve as alternatives.
More flexibility of the unit mix in multifamily buildings could become a trend as well. We may see an increased demand for two bed/one bath or one-plus-den offerings as new buildings are planned, where the extra room could function as a dedicated home office, guest room, or nursery. These rooms could come equipped with a retractable green screen background for video conferencing or a closet build-out option that includes space for a printer and office supplies.
A further step would be the design of flexible “lock-off units” that come attached to a primary dwelling unit. Popular in locations like Singapore, these secondary units are designed like a studio apartment (often with a small kitchenette) and can function as a home office, an in-law unit, a mortgage-helper unit, or an extra bedroom when a family grows. Used as a home office, it would be an ideal place to maintain focus and provide a separate space to meet with clients and colleagues without entering the main home, addressing the collaboration mode.