How Increased Telework Will Inform Multifamily Design

Even as lockdown orders begin lifting, chances are that you’re reading this from your home office — or whatever part of your home you’re pretending is an office.

Professionals unaccustomed to teleworking on a regular basis had to make do literally overnight when stay-at-home orders hit, meaning many simply converted dining room tables into now not-so-temporary desks and started using the blur feature on video calls to hide their unprofessional backdrops.

For those living in apartments, home workplaces can be especially cramped, distracting or impaired by weak Wi-Fi, but designers and building managers say they have a role to play in making remote work easier for residents.

That imperative comes even as social distancing restrictions relax and offices consider welcoming back limited pools of employees, because the flexibility to telework will be desirable for some time — and for some, full-time — from here out.

LoopNet spoke with experts about what’s on the horizon for multifamily buildings in a new era of remote work, ranging from big design considerations that won't be realized for several years when new construction tops out, to in-unit renovations and building enhancements landlords are acting on immediately.

An Office of One’s Own

Multifamily buildings should provide flexibility to accommodate a highly functional home office area for most residents, Walter Hughes, CIO of Houston-based Humphreys & Partners Architects, told LoopNet. Architects are designing new buildings for that future now — regardless of how permanently coronavirus impacts companies’ work from home policies.

While some subscribe to the idea that coronavirus mitigation through remote work might not be an issue once a vaccine is available, the other, more widespread belief is that the built environment needs to accelerate the evolving capacity for increased telework, lockdown or not.

“This is the new normal and a large percentage of people will be working from home because we know technology allows that and it even offers some advantages,” Hughes says. “The solution is that all units must have some office space where people can work when they are home that’s better than what they have now. That space needs to be comfortable with good lighting, ventilation and privacy, and our clients are asking about that kind of space."

To do that, units may need to be larger, he says. Dens, for example, used to be featured in just about 2% of Humphrey’s floorplans. Now, the firm is ramping up designs that emphasize an extra bedroom or den, with the carved-out space providing flexibility for a home office. “We have a client for whom we were working on a three-story project who has now said that they might want to add more dens in to the mix.”

Gensler is also looking at potential changes to unit mixes, Tom Steidl, Firmwide Residential Practice Area Leader at the global architecture firm, told LoopNet. Extra rooms that can be used flexibly as a guest bedroom, nursery or home office always add square footage, he said. “Not adding an extra bathroom with plumbing and additional infrastructure to go along with an extra room keeps costs a little bit more in line, but you still have to question whether extra space adds value overall.”

The extra square footage could incur costs to which the market might not concede, he posits, but that also depends on how personal economics could change in a future that relies more heavily on telework. "If a tech company is asking everyone to work from home, for example, are employers going to start paying rent subsidies? Would that extra income allow you to have a little more space for a home office? Is that part of the expectations?"

If so, the ultimate multifamily design hack is the lock-off unit, which is popular in Southeast Asia and even commonplace in Singapore, he says. Usually part of for-sale condominiums that involve the purchasing of a studio next door, the lock-off unit features a shared entry, like a guest suite in a hotel, with one door leading to the main unit and the other to a home office, which could alternatively be used as an in-law unit or rentable room. Implied in all of this, he says, is a “greater flexibility of space that we’ll see accelerate at a more rapid pace now.”

“We’re seeing it with new construction townhouse units, where there will sometimes be a separate lock-off unit on the first floor,” he continued. “The next logical jump is to do that in multifamily, even in high-rises.”

Downsizing

But while more space is ideal, it contrasts with the fact that average unit sizes across the country have been constricting, Hughes says. “What people really are looking for is a more affordable way to live on their own, and the answer to that is smaller but more efficient and more affordable units.”

Data supports this trend: “Increased demand for smaller units, coupled with a general motivation among developers to maximize the number of units per building, has resulted in a significant decrease in the average size of apartments constructed in a selection of major metropolitan areas over the past 10 years,” according to CoStar Analytics.

The CoStar data shows the average size of one-bedroom apartments constructed in 2018 was 755 square feet, down a cumulative 6.5% from 2007’s average of 800 square feet. The trade-off, of course, is cost — which is a big ask when so many jobs are in jeopardy.

Humphreys’ response: 350-square-foot micro-units that emphasize telework flexibility with a built-in desk, underway in a handful of its projects.

“Even though the average unit size is dropping a bit, I don’t think the expectation is that workers will be able to sit at their dining room tables and get work done,” Steidl says. “The lowest level of intervention is going to be, ‘how do you fit a workstation in a small unit?’ That probably can be accomplished with the unit sizes being designed today. It’s just about conscious effort to be smarter with space allocation.”

Sources acknowledged that suburban, transit-oriented developments are becoming more alluring for teleworkers if it means more breathing room, but Hughes predicts that the magnetism of downtown urban core districts will remain as strong as ever in the long-term if more residents can live on their own and get work done either in their unit or in a building’s common area.

Gensler has seen enough serious inquiries for dedicated in-unit workspaces that it’s now offering pre-designed packages at the schematic or concept level for all units, including studios or tight one-bedrooms, he says, that put thought into how to accommodate an ergonomic workstation from which to do videoconferencing or crafting. “Maybe that is a niche off the kitchen where you can fit a desk, for example, and maybe it’s offered by landlords as a move-in package so there’s less compromise on rent. We’re helping support that.”

Amy Groff, Senior Vice President of Industry Operations for the Arlington, Virginia-based National Apartment Association, confirmed to LoopNet that flexible, built-in, in-unit sit/stand desks with tech capabilities will become more prevalent as a leasing incentive in the same way that in-unit workout mirrors, for example, will be – in light of communal areas like fitness centers facing more restrictions.

Access to the Corner Office

Architects will have to rethink common amenity spaces in the age of coronavirus as well, but the change may not be as stark, Steidl says. “I anticipate a continued desire for shared, building-wide amenities five years in the future because it’s hard to get the economies of scale to deliver the types of amenities people are expecting with smaller, cloistered versions. I don’t think you’re going to get a bunch of little plunge pools, for example, instead of a lap pool.”

Instead, it becomes about smartly operating those spaces, he continued. Communication, sanitation and scheduling will all become paramount to building managers.

There will be some design implications that function more like coworking offices, however, including demand for bigger, open areas and more individual video conferencing spaces, he continued. “Instead of being located on an upper floor or a podium level, those might start coming down to the first or second floor so it’s easier to have guests over.”

Hughes agrees, and says multifamily might want to take cues from student housing. “In student housing, we always provide study spaces for one or two students, and we might have to do more of that in the multifamily market. We’ll likely see clubhouses that incorporate more small offices that are better suited for private use to give presentations and videos as part of the amenities package.”

Take prefabricated office pods that you can drop in anywhere, or individual phone booths, for example, he says. “They are totally sound-tight, but you have a big screen, good audio, AC, total privacy and you can even tint the glass with a touch of a button.” While they’re expensive solutions, he says, a newfound prevalence in luxury multifamily could bring the price down.

As common area spaces evolve to accommodate tech needs such as video conferencing, printer and scanning capabilities in a way that allows residents to conduct their daily business, Groff continued, operators will likely need to provide the ability to reserve private office and fitness rooms in common spaces and schedule time slots to adhere to occupancy restrictions. That reservation model, conducted electronically through phone apps, may be essential in the short term and hard to part with in the long-term.

Either way, Steidl concluded, “everybody has to think about what their video backdrop is, and that is going to be part of the interior design of units and of some of these common areas. You can’t have a pile of dirty dishes when you’re about to jump on a video call. I think it’s going to lead to more robust build-outs with more sophisticated video conferencing technology including possibly a green screen or other tech upgrades – whether that’s a built-in in the unit, or in a common area.”