The future of UK office design: ‘Me Space’ is top priority

Oktra is a Business Reporter client.

The future office will be filled with “Me Spaces” prioritising the individual as interest in multipurpose “We Spaces” drops.

Since the establishment of the open plan office, our working environments have become progressively overburdened by choice. Collaboration and communal space have dictated office layouts based on the desire to socialise and connect with colleagues. While choice and autonomy frequently score highly on workplace assessments, new data captured in Oktra’s Future Workplace Report shows that people are looking for less generalised spaces and instead searching for ‘Me Spaces’ - zones that are pre-set to task completion.

This isn’t to say that choice needs to go away, but rather that there needs to be less ambiguity about areas and zones. What has slowly begun to emerge in the years coming out of the pandemic is the notion of hyper functionality and making spaces fit to accommodate multiple tasks. From a space efficiency point of view, this is an effective strategy but from an individual control standpoint, it’s extremely restrictive.

One of the key findings within the Oktra Future Workplace Report was that when given the choice of their ideal office atmosphere, 36% of Gen Z and Young Millennial office workers would opt to work in a hotel room style setting – a private space that provides no distractions. The report also reveals that 59% of respondents prefer to work in an office that prioritises private spaces within an open plan setting.

In terms of how these preferences determine the layout and design of a workplace, they point towards the notion of control. Employees understand the value of controlling their own space and want to be able to use certain types of spaces as and when they need them. Creative Workplace Director Sean Espinasse believes that generic environments focus too much on the collective of ‘We Spaces’ and the balance is already swinging in the favour of ‘Me Spaces.’

“The catchall type spaces that support a multitude of personal lifestyle choices, such as contemplation rooms, need to be broken down in the future workplace. The future workplace requires greater consideration of the individuals within an organisation. It is important to consider the profile, demographic, age group, interests, et cetera of all employees.”

If the future workplace is going to be anything, then a starting point will be a stripped-back version of what it is today. Rather than having excessive modularity and extensive product-based solutions, the office must prioritise individual control and optimise individual performance.

The longer people are exposed to working from home (WFH), the more apparent its shortfalls. As we came out of the pandemic, the narrative was overwhelmingly in favour of WFH due to its boost to productivity and that was why people didn’t want to return to the office. Over time there has been a realisation that work is more than just being productive. The office offers lots of benefits that are simply unattainable while working remotely.

Oktra’s Future Workplace Report revealed that 77% of people believe that personal development and learning from colleagues are important reasons to be in the office. This shows that there is recognition from younger employees that being in the office is of direct benefit to their careers. This ‘me first’ approach is at the core of the progression and development of their roles. In this new age of ‘Me Spaces,’ the priority for young workers is to learn and develop as quickly as possible. In other words, what does the office do for the individual and it will be down to organisations to design workplaces according to these development needs.

“When we feel more comfortable and experience joy, we interact more and innovate more. The future workplace needs to be more aligned with comfort and offering a positive experience.” Sean Espinasse, Creative Workplace Director.

This is all born from the requirement for an office to speak to the individual on a subconscious level and provide them with the best possible version of the environment they are in. This includes facilitating interactions between colleagues and departments and demonstrating the need for certain tasks to be done in person and not through a screen.

Picturing a future workplace may draw images in our minds of a super modern, sci-fi-inspired minimalist environment operated by robots. The future workplace is not a destination that you ever truly arrive at; it is this sort of aspirational entity that we collectively aim for to ensure we are making progress. With the rulebook of individual desking and 9-5 linear working weeks abandoned, the onus is now on organisations to provide highly optimised offices.

The question mark over the open plan may well never go away and, the expectation is that open-plan office design is here to stay due to the benefits of interactivity, adaptability, and financial affordability of the space itself. However, this statement comes with a warning label; if we don’t embrace the open plan as part of a holistic design from purpose to brief to a solution, then we are very much at risk of regress.

What’s important is this, any move towards a future workplace is going to be much more of an evolution than anything else. The inclusion of dynamic forms, increasing volumes of planting and human-centric amenities are going to be a core part of how we work going forward and these are things organisations already understand to a good level. If we can create that joy in the future workplace, organisations will flourish and thrive as the office shows itself as a bastion for the development of exceptional talent and not just a place to work from.

Inspired by the findings from 1,000 Gen Z and Young Millennial workers (18-34), Oktra have created the Future Workplace Report which details how to design the future workplace. If you are interested in the latest data and analysis about and what the office of the future will look like, download Oktra’s Future Workplace Report here for actionable insights on how to attract the next generation of talent.