After the COVID-19 pandemic, most people don’t just work from home, nor just work from the office. The new normal is hybrid work, a combination of working from home and the office. This significant change in work behavior is impacting the design of office spaces. There is much more emphasis on collaboration spaces, as well as blurring the lines between residential and commercial, into “resimercial.” Think coffee house feel or attractive hotel spaces.

Gensler 2023 research revealed a gap between how often employees are currently in the office and how much they say they need to be in the office to be most productive. On average, office workers spend 48% of their typical workweek in the office, but they say to maximize their productivity they need to spend 63% of their week in the office.

Hybrid office design prioritizes integration of face-to-face collaboration in the office with remote working. It bridges the remote worker and the physical office. Typical features of hybrid offices include:

• Wifi-enabled spaces for connecting with staff working from home
• Technology to book meeting rooms and private spaces
• Configurable office furniture that is easy to move around
• A combination of private spaces and team-working collaborative spaces.

Often the number of desks in a hybrid office goes down, but not necessarily the overall amount of space. More spaces for flexibile collaboration is the priority. Booking systems for workspaces and meeting areas are increasingly common. Hot hot-desking areas, social areas, and meeting rooms designed for videoconferencing with remote working staff are all part of the trend.

The Cisco Hybrid Work study shows that while employees are positive about the return to the office, they find that the spaces are too focused on individual work, rather than environments that foster collaboration and creativity. Five key findings from the study are:

• Employees seek in-office collaboration
• Office technology needs to change to enable collaboration
• Employers will invest in office design and tech to attract top talent
• Organizations realize the value of AI to increase productivity,
• Employers must focus on closing the AI skills gap.

All signs are that hybrid offices are here to stay and office design will continue to evolve to deliver the best integration of collaborative office spaces, private spaces, and connecting to remote workers

All images: Pexels.com

David Shiller

David Shiller is the Publisher of LightNOW, and President of Lighting Solution Development, a North American consulting firm providing business development services to advanced lighting manufacturers. The ALA awarded David the Pillar of the Industry Award. David has co-chaired ALA’s Engineering Committee since 2010. David established MaxLite’s OEM component sales into a multi-million dollar division. He invented GU24 lamps while leading ENERGY STAR lighting programs for the US EPA. David has been published in leading lighting publications, including LD+A, enLIGHTenment Magazine, LEDs Magazine, and more.

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