Move over Big Brother! In 2030, workplaces will be sentient, with ‘Big Boss’ monitoring your every move, message and mood change! At least, that’s the headline grabbing scenario outlined in a recent future-looking report. We take a look at some the more down-to-earth suggestions…
While we jest about what the office of tomorrow might be like, the Workplace Futures report by Nespresso Professional and The Future Laboratory – and featured in an article on This Week in FM – actually contains some insights and predictions that may well see the light a lot sooner than 2030.
The report envisages ‘hyper-flexible hubs’ of collaboration, contemplation and community. So-called ‘lo-co’ (local community) workspaces will offer a closer and more flexible evolution of today’s co-working spaces – and they will be found on local high streets. (Oddly enough, here in Melksham, our serviced-office sister company, YourNextOffice, has three locations on or stone’s throw from the High Street!)
It’s also thought that these lo-co workspaces will begin to appear in redundant retail spaces as a means of reinvigorating local communities. There could also be the the creation of the ‘work mall’ – a hub offering meeting, exhibition and co-working spaces for the wider community.
By catering for whole communities, rather than just the people who work there, these workplaces will become a true civic centres and could provide people with spaces to work, learn and come together socially.
Not only that, but the technologically advanced nature of these places and the connections they offer may also bring about an end to the drudgery that is the daily commute across the county or into the city. This is because large, heavily staffed, centralised corporate headquarters (or regional offices on business parks and and in city centres) would no longer be needed or be seen as desirable or viable.
Suffice to say, whether such changes are a decade or just days away, we’re excited about the design challenges and opportunities they offer us and our clients.