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We are going to have to design spaces that address the impact of remote working and entice people back into the office.These need to be spaces where culture, connections and workflows can be nurtured and enhanced – meaning we will have to reimagine what the working experience could be.
Companies that can address many of the shortcomings of remote working – and there are many – will find this an untapped market. As a direct result of Covid-19, the five areas below will continue to be of interest:
In the long term, I expect that things will hybridise. We are going to have to work with a new blended model of work-from-home versus working-from-the-office. Important issues that I believe will have to be addressed in this hybrid model include:
These are just some of the challenges we will have to deal with in the future. However, the resolution of these issues is filled with the promise of a better quality of life for us all.
The most significant long-term focus area is going to be issues stemming from flexible working: Finding the balance between working from home and the office.In the short term, the effects of Covid-19 will exacerbate what is already a highly depressed market. Vacancies are going to continue for longer than originally anticipated. The commercial sector is going to experience pain for a lot longer. Work from home is going to be tested and will then have to be adapted.
Our future focus will be to find effective ways to address these issues. As an architectural practice, we are going to have to innovate, downsize and outsource. In the short to mid-term, from a work perspective, we are going to have to move our business to where the market is still active, namely student housing, industrial warehouses, logistics hubs and hospitals.
We are headed for an extremely difficult period. Unfortunately, this may be for an unforeseen and protracted period – perhaps beyond 2021 to as far as 2024-25.This relates primarily to the commercial, retail and hospitality sectors. A consequence is that developers focusing on other sectors such as affordable residential units and student accommodation will find that these sectors have a limited capacity, so in the mid-term we could find that things may become even tougher.
Whatever the future holds, there will always be opportunities. Those who can see beyond the current doom and gloom will undoubtedly find ways to survive and even thrive again – soon.