Interior designers and architects are predicting major changes to commercial design as company’s shift their strategies to be more mindful of health, outdoor spaces and touchless technology.
“The whole world is going through this thing and we’re all trying to figure it out together,” said Christina Davis, principal over the interior design department at RVK Architects. “There will definitely be changes that last.”
Moving forward, the growing popularity of shared workspaces and amenities will likely come to a halt in favor of automatic technology, which will become a necessity for the safety and health of workers.
Mary Bartlett, partner at Marmon Mok Architecture, also added that the company has seen a spike in businesses investing into automated kiosks that can perform temperature checks of people walking into a building.
The shift in workplace design will also include desks that are spread out, cubicle dividers and plexiglass to protect reception areas. Even more, companies will likely look at staggering work scheduling in order to reduce the density of the office.
Bartlett also said that spacing out workstations is simple in secondary cities since commercial real estate proxies per square foot are more affordable. However, the pandemic has still impacted real estate growth as companies embrace remote working arrangements.
“If you can work effectively remotely and you feel safe and we feel safe, I think that will be a more permanent trend,” said Bartlett.
