LOS ANGELES—Residential designs are beginning to inform officedesign, according to Patricia Rhee, a principal atEhrlich Architects, which, along with WareMalcomb, is responsible for the design of theelevon creative office campus.For the unfamiliar, elevon, which is currently under development in El Segundo, CA, is afor-sale mixed-use office complex with a designcertainly fits into this trend. The 46.5-acre, 15-building campusboasts 210,000 square feet of communal and indoor-outdoor spacesthroughout—which likens the campus to a neighborhood more than awork environment. To better understand the emerging design trendsin the office space and why people are gravitating toward workenvironments with a residential atmosphere, we sat down with Rheefor an exclusive interview. Here is what we found out:

GlobeSt.com: What are the major office design trendsyou are seeing right now?

Patricia Rhee: People want to be partof a neighborhood/community, even at work. We are focused on thecomforts of home being tangible and readily available in the workenvironment. Flexibility that accommodates different ways ofworking and the rapid growth (and shrinking) of companies is key,along with the flexibility to convert desk space into meeting spaceand vice versa. This means communal, ad hoc collaborativespaces—where people can run into others that aren't necessarilyfrom the same company—but especially outdoor spaces. Amenitiestoday go beyond just a café. Elevon not only has the ubiquitousgood coffee, but outdoor living room, bocci ball courts, on-siteretail, dining and services and a dog park.