Sevil Peach, winner (and later also on the jury) of the Dezeegn Award, is certain: large offices will become a thing of the past.
The designer predicts that large corporate complexes will be replaced by smaller hubs, with staff also working from home and work spaces revisited in "aseptic" co-working to contemplate both collaboration and the right distance.
Companies will keep smaller offices as their main “hubs,” while the “centralized” headquarters of large companies, often in skyscrapers, “are going to disappear,” Peach says.
“What is likely to happen is that offices will become much smaller inside,” said Peach, co-founder of London architecture and interiors firm SevilPeach.
There will be more work at home or away from the office.
“It could be in a shared workplace, for example, for people who cannot work from home because not all homes are suitable for work”, he added. “You might have four kids running around and you might not have enough rooms.”
The work itself will be more flexible
Crowded offices that make social distancing difficult could hamper efforts to contain the virus as countries try to return to normality after lockdowns.
“There will be more flexible working”said Peach. “So people could work 'locally' wherever they are, whether it's a bar or a shared workplace.”
Employees will visit the offices for a few necessary face-to-face meetings and work that cannot be done remotely, Peach said during a streaming forum that involved other judges from the prestigious design award.
Social distancing will have a long-term impact
Since the beginning of the pandemic there have been many architects and designers who they try to intercept the long-term impact of social distancing rules on people and their workspaces.
In a report published last week, the Dubai interior design studio Roar has predicted that restaurants will abandon paper menus, buffets and cash payments, and will return to commission small moments of escape.
Even the aesthetics, for those who can afford to renovate the premises, will be changed in the name of more airy and relaxing spaces.
