Office in the Covid-19 Era

The COVID-19 epidemic is ongoing and truly no one can say when it will end. Questions about whether our daily life will return to normal, or whether it will change for ever, seem increasingly justified. This also applies to our workplaces – offices in which we have until now spent a considerable part of the day. We are stuck in home office mode – in many cases coping quite effectively with our duties. However, as arch. Konrad Krusiewicz, founder of The Design Group, argues, nothing will replace for us the platform for work that is the office and the possibility of face-to-face meetings. To what kind of offices will we therefore return?

Outsourcing & More: The COVID-19 situation may permanently change the style of work in offices, their functioning, and even their very design. Will this actually happen?

Konrad Krusiewicz, The Design Group: This is a very interesting and difficult question. I think that office spaces after the pandemic will face changes, and perhaps this will benefit employees. The key issue is to design offices even better than before, improving the quality of workplaces. If something changes, in my assessment it will only be so that offices are always prepared for possible hits from a similar epidemic in the future. This concerns guaranteeing better working conditions related to access to space in the office, and the efficiency and hygiene of installations such as ventilation.

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Are clients already speaking loudly about these types of needs?

Yes, issues directly related to the pandemic situation and safety measures are already arising. They most often concern: appropriate signage for movement or the introduction of one-way traffic, places with sanitising materials, antibacterial partitions between desks, or reducing the number of employees in a given space. I think that some of these solutions will in future become a permanent element of design. There will certainly also be responses to the need to create more “flexible” office spaces that will enable easier adaptation to current needs.

How could offices look in the near future?

Assuming that the working style does not change, we do in fact notice that conversations with clients raise discussions about solutions related to changes in the working environment. This is connected with the need to have larger office spaces, with large safety zones and more orderly communication. We are increasingly also discussing functional possibilities, i.e. automatically opening doors, touchless devices and bathroom routes controlled by proximity sensors. In offices, sanitising stations at entrances, sanitising rooms and devices, and additional containers in bathrooms for liquids may also start appearing. It is very possible that many companies will introduce real-time temperature recording of people, to identify individuals who could pose a threat to others before they even enter the building.

Could the layout of offices therefore change? How will shared working spaces look?

I hear from some clients that they would prefer to move away from open space, and instead create more enclosed rooms. If office layouts were to change, it would mainly be in terms of the size of rooms allowing greater distance and space between individuals. Additional furniture may also appear, e.g. screens or plexiglass dividers, which will allow space between employees to be delineated. For example, in coworking spaces there may be a need to delineate zones for workstations intended for a larger number of employees. I imagine that such spaces will be designated using partition systems that are easily dismantled and allow quick modification depending on how many employees would be in such a space at a given time. I will also admit that since the epidemic was announced, it occasionally happens that clients speak of preparing their office for shift work, where its users would appear, for example, every week or on different days of the week, e.g. 50% of the team at a time. Solutions such as limiting the number of people permanently in the office, renting places in coworking spaces or partial home office are then taken into consideration. In this way, clients try to protect themselves and office spaces in the event of a renewed epidemic. However, I also think that unfortunately in some professions, job reductions may occur, because the entire COVID-19 situation has shown that in many cases it is more convenient and advantageous to work online or even entirely automatically – using artificial intelligence.

Do you think home office is an effective solution for many companies?

Even on the basis of our team’s work experience during the pandemic, I can say that efficiency in the first weeks could even be slightly higher. The question, however, is what would happen in the longer perspective. I believe that where the possibility of working from home makes sense, it was there long before the pandemic. Perhaps new cases will arise where remote work will bring greater benefits over the years, but I believe that most employees, accustomed to the mode and style of work before the pandemic, might begin to miss many aspects associated with working in the office. CBRE listed five such “top things” that we appreciate upon returning from remote work and I agree with them entirely. These are: physical comfort, the boundary between work and home, direct relationships, regulated working hours and dedicated workspaces. I am concerned that precisely the lack of adaptation of the environment for carrying out professional activities at home, and all the distractors, will not allow for the effective and accurate fulfilment of professional duties in the comfort of home. Nothing will replace the platform for work that is the office and the possibility of face-to-face meetings, the exchange of ideas, creation, brainstorming, joint decision-making in the same place and at the same time. I also think that too widespread an introduction of home office could lead to the atomisation of society, which could ultimately be harmful for business. The office is an ideal space for supporting collaboration – a video conference or chat will not replace this.

Currently, companies change their office on average every 5 years. Will this trend change?

This question should rather be directed to real estate agencies and market analysts. What will certainly change are the provisions of contracts, which will include possibilities for exit, or suspension of the contract for the time related to events such as a pandemic, or other unforeseen crises. In my assessment, I do not see major reasons for the current trend to change. If anything, it would be due to market and economic dynamics, but from a global perspective.

How could the current situation affect the work of architects themselves? How, in your opinion, could the future of the office space design industry look?

I think that our industry is holding its own, and even has a chance to grow. The appropriate design of workspaces should be even more sought after with the growth of functional and ergonomic expectations. More tasks will be carried out online. It may come to the point where together with the client we will work on a shared interactive platform and simultaneously realise all ideas and needs. This would certainly allow for faster responsiveness, and where necessary easier implementation of changes during the functioning of the office.