Whatever they’re called or where they’re located, they’re the workplace equivalent of the Zipcar – spaces that are shared, swapped, reserved, rented or simply claimed for a time, versus individually “owned.” Like the Zipcar, these new workplaces offer a trio of advantages: financial, cultural and environmental. No wonder flexible working is fast becoming an important component of the  new norm for progressive companies all over the world.

Free-address workplaces. Collaboration hubs. Third places, and now even fourth places. Alternative workplaces. Co-working spaces. Serviced offices. Truly flexible working is transforming our workplace performance, and the quality of our (work) lives forever.

The timing is right – some say overdue – for an extreme makeover of the traditional workplace. Shared spaces give owners a way to shrink real estate or optimize what they have to accommodate more people, which translates quickly into cost savings. At the same time, shared spaces are more appealing to build community and give workers choice and control over where they work, depending on the task at hand. And, as a form of collaborative consumption, they’re an Earth-friendly way use fewer resources while still having everything that’s needed for productive work in an interconnected world. to

No wonder a growing number of organisations recognise that non-traditional workplace strategies and spaces can contribute to their overall business effectiveness and efficiency. By increasing shared space and decreasing assigned space, organisations can quickly and dramatically improve their real estate ROI.

A turnaround on the way to the next skinny latte.

The phenomenon of alternative work settings started more than a decade ago, as mobile technologies led to an eureka: knowledge work can happen almost anywhere – at home, in coffee shops, at the library, in a park or even, if you believe the ads, by the pool or at the beach. In those early dot-com days, workers were lured away from the office and owners were lured by the potential to reorganise their workforce and spend less. A new term, “alternative work strategies,” (flexible working) was born.  It means allowing or even encouraging people to work anywhere they want.

Findings from a recent survey  confirm that now most companies have formalised an alternative work strategy. Only 14 percent said they don’t have an alternative work strategy and aren’t planning to implement one this year. When alternative work was still a new trend, people speculated that workplaces could eventually disappear because everyone would instead be working at home or in “third places,” a term defined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg as “great good places” where people can gather and interact, in contrast to a first place (home) and second place (work). Oldenburg identified eight essential characteristics that define third places, together, these characteristics create a de-stressing destination providing a sense of ease and warmth – a cozy feeling known in Germany as gemütlich.

Because coffee shops were among the first public places to serve up wireless along with a gemütlich vibe, they became popular third places for work. That is, until reality started colliding with dream. “Everyone thinks working away from the office is ideal until you do it,” is a sentiment expressed often by today’s mobile workers.

The survey confirmed that, while most companies have alternative and flexible working strategies in place, most workers are still coming into the office anyway. Nearly 50 percent of respondents said they have 10 percent or fewer employees covered under their alternative flexible working strategy. Most workers are still coming to the workplace because they believe it’s the best place to get work done. Specifically, more than 70 percent of respondents said the office is the best place to interact with colleagues, and 40 percent said the office provides access to needed tools and technology.

But that doesn’t mean they’re satisfied with the workplaces they have. They’re working in new and unconventional ways, and their needs are different and more complex than ever. Despite this reality, two out of every three workers feel that their current space is not flexible and  supportive of a variety of activities, according to Workplace Satisfaction Surveys.

Especially because more is being asked of workers today, they want the best of all worlds: the right tools, a range of comfortable and welcoming settings and, more important, the ability to collaborate easily with other people. Increasingly, says author and social theorist Richard Florida, there’s a need for what he calls fourth places – “where we can informally connect and engage and dialogue, but also where we can work.”

More choices for where to work

A growing number of organisations now recognise that non-traditional workplace strategies and spaces can contribute to their overall business effectiveness and efficiency. Researchers have categorised the various places where work gets done, and focused on alternative workspaces that extend a company’s real estate or are within existing facilities.

The lingo is evolving almost as fast as the spaces, but in general here’s what the terms usually mean:

• Co-working facilities are an alternative to working at home with an emphasis on creating community, usually for self-employed individuals and small start-ups
• Serviced offices provide convening spaces for groups that need to work together for a specific number of days; used concurrently or sequentially by multiple groups or companies; also sometimes called collaboration hubs.
• Co-owned/leased facilities put multiple companies into one workplace on a long-term basis, usually with separate spaces assigned to each company and some shared.
• Satellite offices provide corporate hoteling options for a company’s mobile employees.
• Hybrid facilities combine resident and mobile employees in a single corporate space.
• In-house third spaces provide a casual, coffee-shop atmosphere for work within a corporate space.

These types of spaces, especially co-working facilities, are emerging in major urban centers around the globe. According to one estimate, the number of co-working facilities has doubled in the past 18 months, now up to about 1,000 worldwide. Co-working spaces and satellite offices are proliferating especially fast in much of Europe. Looking at regional, cultural and social trends, it’s clear that there’s negative stigma attached to working at home throughout most of Europe. No doubt a contributing factor: Many residences in Europe are smaller compared to North American standards, and there’s typically not extra space for a separate home office.

Another reason European companies and municipalities are aggressively supporting co-working & flexible working is to reduce the negative environmental impacts of car commutes. For example, in France every day 50,000 people come into Strasbourg for work, 87 percent of them by car. The city hopes to create six co-working centers to help facilitate flexible working practises in the next three years to reduce the distances that people commute for a least a few days a week.

In India, streets are congested and commutes are long even on mass transit. Working from home typically isn’t possible, due to a joint family system and the size of homes. As a result, India could quickly gravitate to the emerging trend of satellite offices. This could have a favorable effect on a company’s ability to attract and retain the best talent, a big issue in India’s economic climate of galloping opportunity. Moreover such places could act as a leveler for people coming from diverse social, financial, educational and religious backgrounds, and therefore become highly desirable.

No matter where they’re located, as alternative workplaces are created, they’re bringing people, space and technology together in new ways. Social networking is a big part of the draw of co-working spaces, like betahaus in Berlin – shared team spaces make it easy to mingle and exchange ideas.

Coworking: betahaus Berlin

“The co-working concept is perfect for the daily working life of our generation,” says Tonia Welter, co-founder of betahaus in Berlin, a co-working facility that caters to a growing number of freelancers and small start-ups. “It’s the materialisation of Facebook, social networking in real life.”

Workers rent space by the day or month, and share all the resources there, including wireless connectivity, laser printers, open areas for conversation and brainstorming, meeting rooms for collaborative brainstorming or customer presentations, a kitchen and what’s called the “Open Design City,” an experimental studio to create mock-ups of new product ideas.

Designed by Klemens Vogel from Vogel/Wang Architektur, the ambience is a cross between a café house in Vienna and an internet café in Silicon Valley, providing social contact within a supportive workplace.

Co-working facilities provide a better balance in what Welter describes as “the small frontiers between work and life.”

“Everyone needs an efficient work environment that provides all the necessary technical equipment and also supports wellbeing,” she says.

At betahaus, there’s good food in the café, indoor plants and access to an outdoor garden and multiple environments to suit a mood or task. Sited close to public transportation and restaurants, the facility makes it easy for people to leave their cars at home. The median age of users is 25–35, and most of them come by bike.

The café is the entry point where people can meet and mingle. A weekly breakfast forum is opportunity for people to present themselves and share ideas. One floor above the cafeteria are open spaces for people working on their own. Another floor up is for start-up companies, with team spaces for 4–8 people furnished with mobile tables. At the centre, separate teams can come together to exchange, collaborate and co-create.

The entire facility was intentionally designed to be a platform for networking. “Some users have cooperated to create new start-up companies, win a new customer or simply consult with each other. Users are very open and see ways to improve by tapping into coworkers’ expertise,” says Welter. Opened in 2009, betahaus Berlin now attracts about 120 users on a regular basis. The founders have recently opened a betahaus in Hamburg and are planning for facilities in Lisbon, Cologne and Zürich.

The demand for co-working facilities is increasing rapidly in Europe. Although the movement started primarily to meet the needs of freelancers and small companies, a spill-over effect is underway as corporations and cities see the attraction these spaces have for employees and the potential they create for better, faster innovation facilitated through flexible working practises. Perhaps a sign of what’s to come: “Is a co-working ecosystem the future of innovation in corporations?” was a topic covered in the “Co-working Europe 2011” conference.

“Co-working opens up new possibilities,” says one co-worker. “Imagine you can be in Lisbon in the summer surfing and in the winter in Zürich skiing in the Alps. Work wherever you want!”

Putting work in its place

With more and more mobility, work is becoming what you do, versus where you go. Ironically, the freedom to choose where to work is raising the bar for workplaces everywhere, not making them redundant. “Good enough” spaces are only good enough if you’re required to be there or have nowhere else to go.

However,  everyone knows the legend that innovation starts in a garage, but sooner or later we all grow up and need a place to work. The same can be said of coffee shops, libraries, park benches, pools and most other casual third-place destinations: sooner or later, they’re just not good enough places to do really good work – but then nor is the traditional office. That’s where the fourth place comes in.

There are real opportunities for firms that embrace the new ways of flexible working, reducing real estate costs, happier employees, lower environmental impact, attracting and retaining key talent. It will be interesting to see how the next decade plays out – but one thing is for sure the traditional office will never be the same again.

Business Interiors

To see what Urban Splash has done to Matchworks is nothing short of breath taking. In times of Austerity its impressive to see the bold vision take shape in the this flagship project. It has helped transform the Speke Garston area into one of liverpools leading business districts. Matchworks is already home to a number of national occupiers such as Enterprise, Liverpool PCT, Yoma, Fit for Free and Riverside Housing Association who have undertaken office design and office fit-outs at the site.

Business Interiors

Business Interiors

Images Courtesy of The Cool Hunter

Business Interiors

Images courtesy of the cool hunter

Business Interiors

Images courtesy of the cool hunter.

Business Interiors

Images courtesy of the cool hunter

Business Interiors

Maquarie brought various divisions from across London together under one roof at Ropemaker Place in a 200,000 sq/ft office relocation across six floors in a LEED Platinum green office building designed by ARUP. The centre piece of the office is the amazing red staircase that suggests openness and connectedness. The glass manifestation of tapering vertical slats is a visual representation of both transparency and privacy.

The best office furniture from the previous office made the journey with them from their previous office, such as the Eames chairs in the boardroom, and in combination with some new and remarkable design led pieces, such as the purple Tom Dixon chairs in the guest area, some of the furniture sits like sculptures in the workplace.

Images courtesy of The Cool Hunter

Business Interiors

No 10.Saatchi and Saatchi Bangkok – Top Ten Cool Offices – The Worlds Best Office Interiors

Images courtesy of Cool Hunter

Business Interiors

Quintain, the owner and landlord of the building will be delighted to have let the space, following a bold decision in 2011 to refurbish some of the vacant upper floors after years of standing empty. Quintain had intended to undertake a Cat A office refurbishment in 2008 but put the project was put on hold pending the uncertainty in the market at that time.  The empty office space itself was a rabbit warren of closed offices, with the previous tenant leaving the Cat-B fit out in place. This left prospective tenants some difficulty in imagining how they could use and upgrade the space, making a Cat A office refurbishment an urgent requirement. It is understood Quintain also used the office refurbishment as an opportunity to install solar energy to the large flat roof of the building whilst at the same time upgrading the air conditioning systems, significantly improving the green office credentials for the building – this was further to a survey of the solar potential of the flat roof of the building undertaken by Business Interiors and Alpheon Energy.

It was thought that Your Move would be taking some of the last remaining space in The Senate building in Exeter, where the ground floor has remained empty since completion . It is understood that the landlord offered exceptional rates to encourage Your Move to settle on the building – but the client eventually opted for  The Forum not least because they will be able to fit their entire operations on one floor, as opposed to the two they would have required at the Senate. The Forum is blessed with unusually large  floor plates for Exeter. Your Move will be joining other tenants that already include Kitson Solicitors, Savills, & Parsons Brinckerhoff. There is a further 2,500 sq/ft still available on the same floor and Jones Lang Lasalle advised Your Move.

Business Interiors

Waterhouse Square is Prupim’s gothic, red brick, landmark in the heart of central London. Waterhouse Square’s dramatic arches and tranquil squares make it one of London’s most distinguished office buildings.

The expansive 30,000 sq/ft floor plates of Waterhouse Square are an ideal size to accommodate a number of companies over one or more floors without division. Skype is set to take two floors and is likely to be joined by Public Relations firm Weber Shandwick. They will join law firm Wragge and Co who is already resident in the building. It is rumoured that Skype will pay in the region of £45 sq/ft on a ten-year lease and Weber Shandwick slightly less, leaving a further two floors left in the building for a new tenant.

Saatchi & Saatchi were once set to take over 150,000 sq/ft of space in the building before its current landlords prevented it leaving its Charlotte Street offices. Pruprim, part of Prudential has over £16 billion of assets under management in 740 properties with approximately 3,500 property occupiers. They own a number of impressive landmark  buildings throughout the country. CBRE and DTZ are joint letting agents on Waterhouse Square.

Business Interiors

After 20 years based in Kirkstall, advertising agency, Gratterpalm, has confirmed that it is moving in to Leeds city centre. Following months of careful planning, the company has now secured a lease on the second floor of No.1 Leeds, One Whitehall, and it plans to move the business there in the summer. With good access, thanks to the nearby motorway network and public transport links, the new central location will be much more convenient for both colleagues and clients. No.1 Leeds is the greenest building in the city, meaning that it will help Gratterpalm become more environmentally- sustainable as it continues to evolve.

As a result of becoming one of the leading advertising agencies in the UK, working with some of the biggest names in retail and employing some 145 people, Gratterpalm has outgrown its current building. The move to the new premises means it will have more quality space for its colleagues and there is also an option to take on additional space in the building.

Gordon Bethell, managing partner of Gratterpalm, commented: “We have been looking for a centrally-located, easily-accessible building which could be occupied cost-effectively. We have been very impressed with the running costs of No.1 Leeds, which has undoubtedly justified the relocation. We have access to our new office from 1^st May, but as we don’t have to leave our current premises straight away, we can ensure there is minimal disruption to our colleagues and clients alike.”

Gareth Healey, managing partner at Gratterpalm, added: “We unveiled our new home at No.1 Leeds to our staff on 30^th January and we couldn’t have hoped for a better response. This move is very significant to the company and marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter in Gratterpalm’s history. The next 12 months and beyond promise to be momentous for the company and we’re looking forward to building a bigger and brighter future for our company, our colleagues and our clients.”

Gratterpalm have won a slew of awards, and they are regarded as the leading creative agency outside of London. Campaign magazine  ranked them 21 out of 100 creative agencies, the only regional agency to break into the top 25. They have also won best Yorkshire firm to work for and are in the Sunday Times top 100 firms to work for.

See why Gratterpalm love Mondays and won Yorkshire’s best company to work for here:

Business Interiors