Looked at in one way, the corporate office is not exactly a paradigm of usefulness. It sees action from early morning to late afternoon Monday through Friday. The other 128 hours of a 168-hour week? It is about as useful as Lou Gehrig’s backup.
But now that America’s wage earners are slowly but surely being transformed from remote to on-premise workers, building owners are studying how best to wring more value from a typical office’s “off hours.” Those ways include hosting community and nonprofit organization meetings, staging events or even serving as dining places.
Defining the office
Among the entities working to incorporate more utility in workplaces is the Dallas Studio of architectural firm Perkins&Will. “Utilizing corporate office space for community events is not a new idea, but the trend has taken on a greater significance in recent years,” says Courtney Johnston, managing principal of the Dallas Studio.
“Company leaders and employees alike are asking themselves, ‘What does the office mean?’ As we strive to define the role of the office in this new era, incorporating multifunctional spaces for community purposes is one means of revitalization.”
Not long ago, the firm deigned a space for Dallas-based Impact Ventures, a venture capital group that offers coaching and cohort classes to entrepreneurs of color, adds Melissa Cooksey, senior interior project manager and principal for the Dallas Studio.
A major goal “was to create a community-oriented space that would feel inspiring for both employees and outside guests,” she says. “Often, when we design community spaces for a corporation, we keep the design elements more generic. By contrast, Impact Ventures wanted its community space to be brightly colored and heavily branded, so that everyone using the space felt the connection to the organization.”
Getting creative
Dallas Studio’s own workplace represents another example of putting offices to use beyond the typical workday. Recalls Johnston: “When we designed our own studio in the former Dallas High School, we incorporated the old auditorium into our square footage and had to get creative about how to make the large space usable. Over the years, we’ve had a tremendous amount of outside interest in using the space. We’ve hosted evens for the AIA, various nonprofits and even city officials.”
The firm allows employees to request the after-hours use of the space. As well, many of its clients and even people with no link to the firm reach out to use the space. Offering the space this way enables the firm to spread the word about its work, she says.
New York City-based Spectorgroup, a global architecture, interior design and master planning firm, has learned companies are seeking fresh, innovative ways to use their offices after work hours. As a result, the way the firm designs commercial office space has had to change, says Scott Spector, principal of the company. “For many of our clients, this means creating dynamic, multi-functional spaces that can seamlessly host everything from client events to art exhibitions and film screenings,” he says.
Hospitality zones
Spectorgroup is giving its clients’ spaces lively and attention-getting “hospitality zones” that allow them to stage events for both their workforce and the wider business community. The firm’s workplace strategy group uses the discovery period to team with clients to identify the many ways their space might be utilized.
“We focus on details, like adjacency and flow, to make sure everything works together seamlessly,” Spector says. “We aim to create spaces that remain active and purposeful, adapting effortlessly to shifting needs throughout the day. While it’s less common, we see untapped potential for companies to monetize underutilized office spaces, providing their leases permit. With the right design approach, the possibilities are endless.”
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