New Spaces locations are leading the way in how the workspace is being redesigned for the changing world of work.
Cubicle farms are out. In the hybrid working world, the office will play a key role in allowing start-ups, small or medium-sized businesses and freelancers to come together for collaboration and collective creativity.
And this means that the design of offices will evolve to enhance relationship building and face-to-face communication in ways that best fit people’s lifestyles and working needs.
Furthermore, Spaces is at the cutting edge of how this vision of the future is being turned into a reality. Here are a few examples…
How Spaces is redesigning the office
What if where we lived, shopped, dined and socialised was also where we worked? That was the question posed by Spaces Napa Valley, California, when it opened last year. This is the first in a new wave of Spaces flexible working locations that will open among retail complexes, in lifestyle-focused areas.
The location is a true ‘live, work and play’ zone. As well as hosting digital nomads and wine industry professionals passing through the area, it also allows Napa’s locals and second-homers to work on their doorstep, reducing their commute and boosting the local area’s economy in the process. This new generation of Spaces locations also tap into the concept of the 15-Minute City, with work being in a convenient position close to home, shopping, healthcare, childcare, gyms and amenities.
Meanwhile, Spaces Westerpark in Amsterdam was the first Spaces location in Europe to utilise the concept of ‘Open Desk’ – a clever, eco-friendly, attractive workstation that’s in step with how we’ve all become used to working.
Made from carefully chosen materials to minimise waste, Open Desk is like having your own room within a room. There are also two main set-ups for teams to choose from: a hybrid collaboration mode (with a circular workspace layout for virtually collaborating with freelancers or digital nomads) and a group work mode (where furniture is laid out to facilitate group creativity).
The Open Desk concept is coming to the UK with the opening of Spaces at The Mailbox in Birmingham in spring 2022. The Mailbox is best known as the home of BBC Birmingham. Located on one of the city’s landmark canals just five minutes’ walk from Birmingham New Street station, you couldn’t ask for a more iconic business spot.
Creating a creative environment
“The New York Times ran an article recently saying that employers had better figure out how to make some magic happen in the office space if they wanted people to come back and feel empowered and creative, and it’s true. People will be thinking, ‘Am I going to be able to be creative in this space?’” says Doug Demers, Managing Principal at B+H Architects and the Centre for Advanced Strategy.
Fun will have an increasing part to play in the office experience as an aid to wellbeing and creativity – something the tech giants have long understood. Google is famous for its fun-based workspaces, featuring Lego zones, slides, bowling alleys and more. “Amazon talks about ‘Easter eggs’,” adds Demers. “These are the unexpected things that happen as you move through a space that may inspire you or even disturb you, but essentially make things more interesting and help you to break out of a fixed way of thinking.”
The rise of experience design is one of ten trends identified in IWG’s white paper, The Future of Work: a trends forecast for 2022.
Find a Spaces location near you to join the hybrid working movement and benefit from our cutting-edge, high-design workspace facilities.
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