The future of office design

• Workplace design to win the battle for talent: with the rising emphasis on talent and performance, businesses should invest in their workplaces to help attract and retain talent, as well as boost employee performance.

• Creating high-performance environments: highly efficient and tech-enhanced workplaces are required to support high-performance environments which can adapt to the changing needs of employers and staff. However, many offices are not meeting employee expectations for satisfaction or productivity.

• Building social purpose through design: the social and collaborative aspects of the workplace are now the prime reason for the return to office. Integrating social strategies with design strategies can promote company culture and support wellbeing.

• Meeting sustainability requirements: organizations have more robust sustainability requirements than ever. Thoughtful design strategies for building refurbishment, adaptive reuse or retrofit which incorporate circularity can drive decarbonization while also creating positive social impact, boosting wellbeing, and enhancing overall value.

Businesses will demand high-performance environments in order to support more complex work requirements, which are driven by AI, top talent attraction and managing high levels of flexibility in hybrid working models.

While hybrid and flexible working models are not new, the adoption of these at scale in the post-pandemic era has changed working patterns and demands on all workplaces, as well as employee expectations. Despite divergences in workplace policies - with 56% of companies ‘Hybrid Adopters’ with hybrid strategies and 44% ‘Office Advocate’ with a full time in-office policy - technology and flexibility remain vital for all workplaces. Staff are looking for increased flexibility regarding office work and for increases in collaborative spaces and alternative working spaces in the office. There is a requirement for higher integration of technology in working life, which will grow as businesses adopt AI solutions.

The Future of Work Survey 2024 found 86% of respondents agreeing that they are moderately to highly effective at supporting a hybrid workforce, while 56% of organizations would consider partially opening their office across a few days each week due to lower employee demand on workspaces. Changes in the workplace will also be driven by the adoption of AI. Nearly 9 in 10 of those responding to the survey said AI would change how their workforce operates in the next five years. Coupled with corporate goals for growth and innovation, the role of the workplace in supporting higher performance, productivity and wellbeing is more important than ever.

JLL research shows investment in office design can improve the environment for focused individual work, boost collaboration and improve air quality, all critical to employee performance. Redesigned offices can also offer a choice of workspaces as well as views and green spaces, all of which are strongly linked to increased employee wellbeing and productivity (JLL Research, Human Experience Survey 2024).

This was demonstrated in the recent relocation of JLL’s Tokyo office, that included many of the elements found to inspire wellbeing and productivity included in the office design. A science-led design assessment was undertaken, using a combination of employee surveys and EEG tests (which measure cognitive experiences), and found a significant increase in office space satisfaction and higher reported productivity levels in the new office. Satisfaction scores (0-100 scale) for the new offices overall from 58 to 83, and productivity scores (0-100 scale) increased from 52 to 71. In addition, employees also reported lower stress in the new working environment, with the stress score (0-100 scale) dropping from 42 to 37.