Can We Agree to Ditch the Term “Creative Workspace”?

Everyone seems to agree that “creative office” has become an over-used term, and that the trend has extended beyond creative companies. In fact, almost every industry today is considering some form of this new style of office space. But, if “creative office” is the wrong term, what is the right one? Many companies have adopted alternative phrasing, like open office plans or modern workplace strategy. While everyone’s office space is different and bespoke to the company, these office spaces share several commonalities, from a focus on design to ample communal space to flexible desks or work areas. Essentially, they are human workspaces. We sat down with Andy LaDow, regional managing director at Colliers International who just completed a human workplace strategy at the firm’s San Diego office, to talk about the terminology and what these spaces—whatever they are called—have in common.

GlobeSt.com: What are the defining characteristics of today’s office space?

Andy LaDow: Creative office used to be the tag line, but creative is really no longer really the right word for it. From my perspective as a business operator, there are three things that are driving this change. The first thing is the technology. The way of doing business today is a lot different and a lot more flexible, and you have access to a lot more information at your fingertips. That drives the ability to work anywhere and at anytime. Also, by creating more open workspaces and common areas, it creates as a business operator, greater flexibility so that I can scale up or scale down, or make adjustments to my workspace. The third piece is greater efficiencies. We the past with private office environments, we would be at 350 square feet per employee. Now, though this new model, you can get that number down to the low 200s or even lower.