Offices Must be ‘Community Focused’ in Telework Era, Architect Says

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to keep many office employees working remotely, companies are questioning what role the physical office building will play moving forward.

While some companies are betting on the future of permanent remote work, others don’t believe that more telework will kill the office. For many companies, the desire for flexibility and a balance of in-person and remote work will define the post-coronavirus workplace.

The evolution of where and how we work will mean businesses must make a greater effort to transform the physical office into a location that employees are eager to work from. It should become a place centered around specific aspects of work such as collaboration, community and ideation.

“The past few months have prompted everybody — and we don’t mean just everybody in the real estate and workplace design industries — to think about the very nature of work, how and where it is done and the relative importance of physical and psychological safety, connectedness and socialization,” says Patrick Donnelly, client leader at Cincinnati-based BHDP Architecture.

LoopNet spoke with Donnelly about how companies can balance the desire for telework with the need to foster connectivity and a sense of corporate identity, and how the physical offices of tomorrow can evolve to stimulate innovation, collaboration and engagement.

Drawing on principals of community design and specific strategies that his own company has implemented for clients such as Fidelity Investments and Fifth Third Bancorp, Donnelly shares his insight about how design can foster employee relationships and drive the company mission when we do finally get back to work in person.

What will make employees want to come back to the office?

Companies can leverage technology now to create culture remotely with frequent video chatting and software that necessitates regular, frequent interactions among colleagues to close the gap between distributed employees, build connections and deliver results. But I think the lockdown has taught us an enduring truth: we lose something when we work remotely all the time. There is no substitute for a physical space in building community.

A physical space that exemplifies the corporate culture of a company, while encouraging workers to come together and connect, is core to creating a vibrant community. It’s critical in the new way of working to draw people in and provide an opportunity for both planned and unplanned interactions, where people can chat and form relationships.

What are some examples of community-centered workspaces?

Fifth Third Bancorp has made major investments in communal spaces such as The Forum and Project Connect as hubs for its Cincinnati headquarters. These hubs are designed to connect the employees through shared experiences integrated with daily work practices at the crossroads of the campus.

Project Connect brings together two formerly distinct buildings on its downtown campus via a two-story glass atrium. The hub features a variety of seating areas and amenities with integrated retail and restaurants so employees need not leave the building for a quick bite or to decompress.

The Forum is a conference center that is open to the public and visible to those walking by at street-level. It is designed for client and community meetings with multiple conference areas — from two- to three-person huddle rooms, to a thoroughly updated bank vault that celebrates the bank’s heritage, to a 200-person auditorium.

Fidelity created what it calls “centers of gravity,” or destination points within its workspaces. These can be receptions areas, workplace cafes or open spaces that typically offer a variety of seating options and amenities, and feature natural materials and warm lighting to create a welcoming area to work or collaborate.

The “Town Green” at Fidelity’s Covington, Kentucky, location is a great example of one of these “centers of gravity.” It’s a central gathering place at the primary entrance of the building with food options, reconfigurable work areas, meeting rooms and other opportunities for spontaneous run-ins and conversation. More than just a space for employees to come together over lunch or breaks, it is intentionally designed to draw employees in and serve as an informal work zone throughout the day.

How else can office space be organized to promote collaboration?

Many floor plates are all too often characterized by long corridors of walled-off offices and cubicle farms, environments that foster the opposite of community. In an effort to create spaces that support people while breaking down barriers and creating a community feel, Fidelity organizes its workspaces into 30- to 60-person “neighborhoods,” divided by visual screens, customizable walls that act as messaging boards or a mix of open and enclosed activity areas. Employees have even named some of the neighborhoods, such as “Upper East Side.”

Neighborhood-based seating plans with a variety of work settings are just the start of successful community design, however. How people navigate an environment can have a major impact on how they connect to it and whether they feel part of a shared enterprise.

The design community has long understood the importance of wayfinding and how people take in information, especially with regard to urban planning. In 1960, Kevin Lynch published his groundbreaking book, “Image of the City,” the result of a five-year study of Los Angeles, Boston and Jersey City, New Jersey, in which he argued that people form mental maps of their surroundings based on archetypal elements such as boundaries and edges. These provide familiar reference points and ways for people to relate to an urban environment.

Fifth Third applied Lynch’s thinking and created workspaces with intuitive paths, landmarks and nodes. An excellent example is its use of elevated “loft” spaces in floor plates to create “visual beacons” for employees. These landmarks, which are built eight feet above the floor and sport space-identifying colors, assist with navigation through larger floor plates and also serve as functional meeting space.

What really makes a community experience in the office work for employees?

City planners have long understood that enabling these social connections and building a sense of civic identity requires putting people and social structures at the center of their work. Community design does not begin with form and function, the traditional modes of architectural design, but rather with the culture and identity of the people who use a space.

The key to creating communities of work is a shared vision derived from open communication, with everyone involved feeling a sense of ownership. Ideally, the design process brings employees from every level of an organization together to solicit input about their behaviors and practices throughout the work day.

The focus is on how place can enable the relationships and social connections which lead to commitment and a shared mission for a group or organization. This leads to a greater sense of attachment, happiness and pride of place for community members. Safety, functionality and productivity are all very important, but attachment to place, which supports a shared identity and a shared purpose, is the ultimate goal.

Communities of work materialize when places are designed based on the perceptions and expectations of the workforce as well as the purposes of an organization. Like great cities and neighborhoods, they can express a shared sense of history and meaning to inspire people to embrace the mission and energy of an organization, setting the stage for future success.