NewArmstrong office 3.0
Office tigers or home workers? What is the future of the office?
So what if Mondays are busy, Tuesdays and Thursdays are ‘okay’ but Wednesdays and Fridays are really quiet in the office? The design of our office was conceived in 2018 for the 45 employees of NewArmstrong ‘fixed office;’ conceived. But after Corona, working from home and collaborating virtually remained.
In fact, recent research by CBS shows that by 2024, nearly 40% of workers in the Netherlands will be working at home at least half the time. Before corona, the figure was only 14%.
NewArmstrong has embraced hybrid working and requires 50% office presence. In practice, this is approximately a 35-65 ratio, which is because some people still like to work full-time in the office. But on Mondays, utilization is almost 100%, but that’s also when all the team meetings are held. On Wednesdays and Fridays, staffing is sometimes only 25%.
So how do we deal with our office environment?
One requirement is to have enough employees to actually connect with. A too-empty office where you have to find employees does not function as a culture catalyst nor does it produce a connection. The prerequisite for a connecting office is that occupancy is between 50% and 85%. Below 50% is a quiet office and it becomes dead even if it falls below the critical threshold of 25%. Above 85%, the office is perceived as busy. So it’s about finding the sweet spot between of maximizing the lively office hours and minimizing the overcrowded office.
So what is the function of the office anyway?
Working from home, meanwhile, is much more than a temporary solution. It has simply become normal. Employees more often choose to spend a day at home to concentrate on their work, without distractions from colleagues who just drop in. For some of our tasks this is necessary or more pleasant, especially our employees who process a lot of data or supervise a large rollout of projects, this concentration is sometimes really necessary.
The great thing is that this development creates more flexibility, freedom and confidence. And we see that employees are happier and more productive when they can choose where they work. So we think this is a plus as an employer as well.
For companies, offering work-from-home options has really become a plus for employer branding. More and more people are consciously choosing an employer that is flexible, and where it doesn’t matter whether you open your laptop at the kitchen table or in the office. In fact, according to a survey by recruitment platform Indeed, over 70% of job applicants consider flexible work options a deciding factor when choosing a new job.
So how to do it?
Virtual design model Mr Green office
Yet the office has not become obsolete. On the contrary, it is taking on a different role. We see it as the place where teams come together, can spar for a while at the coffee machine or where you scribble together a whiteboard full of ideas. By 2024, nearly 60% of employees say they think it’s important to meet with colleagues physically on a regular basis, especially for brainstorming or team building. You’re just missing something when you only speak to each other through a screen.
But we have to flesh it out concretely. And as a design agency this is of course a design task on which we can gnash our teeth. And in the period that we are in our own office (office NA2.0 is 2020-2025) we have already completed many other offices, such as the offices of Mr Green boutique offices, Amazon, Lloyds and the headquarters of URW in Amstelveen. Each with new design insights. Enough views to think about.
Management office Mall of the Netherlands, design NewArmstrong, project management NewArmstrong
Headquarters Unibail Westfield Rodaumco (URW), design Casper Schwarz, project management NewArmstrong)
Management office Stadshart Amstelveen, design Casper Schwarz, project management NewArmstrong
office concept Mr Green Boutique offices. Design Mr Green, NewArmstrong, project management NewArmstrong
In the coming period we will show how we arrived at a new concept, a new design for the office. We got there in steps and we also took stock of the lessons learned. What works and what doesn’t work.
And also the handicap of an SME: we do want everything, we can think of everything, but it must also be affordable.
