The Office Space Revolution Is About Creating Communities For Tenants

Office space used to merely evolve, but now it's evolving rapidly. "Revolution" is the right term for the changes occurring in office space, according to the speakers at our Philadelphia Office Revolution event at the Rittenhouse recently.

The demand for creative space in Philadelphia is being driven by the same forces as other major markets, our speakers noted: a dramatic shift in the way people are working, with as much as 40% working independently by 2020 and, just as importantly, able to work from anywhere, so they're less interested in traditional office space. As for larger companies, they've realized that older models of office space won't help them attract and keep the best talent.

Now the focus of most office space takes its cue from co-working space, looking to build a community, our speakers said. There's a heightened social aspect to offices now, with the goal of fostering interaction and collaboration among workers and among different companies, and that affects the design. Even large corporations want to embed community-fostering elements in their space, to break down their internal silos and build synergies among teams.

Snapped: The creative space panel, including Pipeline Philly director Josh Dubin; Benjamin's Desk chief design officer Adam Glaser; Industrious co-CEO Jamie Hodari; Jacobs national director Amy Manley; and Saul Ewing partner Erik Williams, who moderated.

How do buildings achieve the goal of community-building? Though a full suite of amenities is more important than it ever was, our speakers explained, there's no single answer to that question. A lot depends on the culture of the company occupying the space, and the culture of its profession. Office building design needs to be flexible to accommodate that reality.

Here's our office design and development panel, including Nelson managing principal Angel DeElse; University Place Associates founder Scott Mazo; MRP Realty principal Zach Wade; and Partner Engineering & Science Inc project manager Steve Sclarow, who moderated.

Because (almost) every office worker can do everything from everywhere, office space now has to be more than people-holders, our speakers emphasized. It has to be a value proposition that promotes a company's culture and brand. Even as companies take less space on average than they used to, they will pay more for the space they do take, if they see the value for themselves and for their ability to retain talent. (One more thing to remember about a Bisnow event: a fine breakfast selection to start one's day.)