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Covid did a number on the office.
Nearly 19 percent of office space across the country was vacant in the first quarter of 2023, thanks to remote work. If property owners and developers don’t get creative and reverse the trend, global real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield estimates as much as 330 million square feet will be unused by 2030.
As the fog of the pandemic lifts, we’re seeing the effects empty buildings are having on local economies, and they’re not pretty.
With fewer people commuting, the dry cleaners, restaurants, and convenience stores that depend on foot traffic from neighboring office buildings are struggling, rendering whole commercial districts nearly obsolete. And with office landlords collecting fewer rent payments, defaults and foreclosures could continue rising.
Employee well-being has also taken a toll. Turns out, working from home, while convenient, has some serious downsides.
Citing its own research, which collected more than 10 million data points across more than 130 companies around the world, Cushman & Wakefield charts a 10 percent drop in workplace bonds and connections – crucial to personal well-being – over the past three years. “[L]earning and development has stalled, as mentoring is all but non-existent. Employees are languishing in connection – both to their company culture and to their colleagues,” the firm reports.
So, who can rescue our withering city centers and isolated workers? Maybe landscape architects. One key to getting people back into the office could be the amenities just outside of it. Accommodations such as rooftop gardens, propane-fueled fire features, fountains, and shade structures can help ease the transition from home to the workplace.
Confluence is a firm of landscape architects, urban designers, and planners with nine offices across the Midwest. Corporations divesting their campuses are keeping the firm busy reimagining how these properties can function as they transform into multi-tenant, mixed-use developments with plenty of common areas for recreation, relaxation, and entertainment.
“Developers are coming in and introducing town centers, residential and senior housing, warehouses, and everything that kind of combines a small community on what was an individual corporate campus,” says Terry Minarik, Confluence principal and landscape architect in Minneapolis.
Here are two recent examples:
- Aspira Campus, Overland Park, Kansas: The 207-acre site was an institutional office complex that served as the world headquarters of the Sprint Corporation, the second-largest office campus in the U.S. Occidental Management bought the property in 2019, which today is being repositioned as a multi-use complex with commercial, residential, and hospitality components. It will also be home to T-Mobile’s second headquarters. Confluence helped develop the campus master plan and is developing a unifying “art walk,” a campus rebrand with signage improvements. The project calls for green spaces, water features, and rooftop gathering spaces, among other amenities.
A rendering of the Aspira Campus
- The Terrace at Solana, Westlake, Texas: Confluence is working alongside the project architect to create gathering spaces that foster socialization at the former IBM corporate office. It’s being repurposed as a multi-tenant office building with outdoor amenities designed to attract and retain talent. These include a bar and lounge flanked by a gaming terrace, a shaded fitness lawn, and a courtyard lounge space that takes the place of a defunct fountain.
These projects and others like it are significant in that they represent what could be the future of the workplace: less corporate, more communal. Environments that offer options in where to work, eat, play, and collaborate could help coax people out of their home offices.
“The office buildings that are going to be most successful long-term are those that are part of this mixed-use type of environment,” says Wm. Christopher Cline, senior principal at Confluence in Kansas City.
Planning an amenity mix
Whether they’re a part of a mixed-use development or corporate headquarters, amenities can go a long way toward employee satisfaction. Consider these features to create a stronger connection between workers and the workplace:
- Flex-work accommodations: As companies try to lure employees back to HQ, and as workers dig their heels in, many are striking a compromise. Whether it’s a hybrid arrangement or a flexible schedule, workplaces can provide accommodations that serve employees outside the typical 9-to-5. “Having some activities from early in the morning – yoga, coffee shops – to having a bar or a restaurant available on site or at least within walking distance becomes a very attractive amenity to retain tenants,” says Matthew Strange, Confluence principal in Chicago.
- Heated patios: Thanks to social distancing, people rediscovered the simple joys of being outside. The trend continues post-pandemic. Patios offer employees places to unwind and get some fresh air. Properly heated, these areas can be used well into the fall. Propane patio heaters emit a circle of warmth up to 25 feet in diameter and can raise the outdoor temperature up to 25 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Fire pits and fire features: As workplaces emphasize wellness, providing places where employees can take a break from their cubicles, fire pits and fire features offer moments of serenity. Fireplaces can create a calming atmosphere inside, as well. Propane is often the preferred fuel for these applications because it produces taller, slower-moving flames.
- Grilling stations: Whether it’s an exhibition kitchen or a simple propane grilling station, cooking outside is a good way to build workplace bonds.
A facility doesn’t need to access natural gas lines to install gas amenities. In some cases, it’s easier and more affordable to fuel these features with propane. Propane tanks can be stored safely on site and out of sight underground.
“Opportunity for tenants within the building to interact in some form of social pattern tends to fall on the outdoor environment nowadays,” Minarik says. “So, we’re creating these spots for social interaction, whether they’re outdoor grilling stations or fire pits.”
In implementing these amenities, Confluence has received some unexpected feedback. Hybrid workers – those who split their time between home and the office – are reporting that home is where they’re most productive and the office is where they’re collaborating and connecting. It’s an arrangement that gives employees the best of both.
“The outdoor space is a great way to make some of that happen in ways they can’t get at home,” Strange says.
Rendering courtesy of Confluence.
