BOSTON—Organizations are beginning to think more strategically vs. tactically about the way their offices are designed, Boston Properties'  SVP and regional manager Bryan Koop tells GlobeSt.com. Koop will be presenting at the session “Workplace Evolution—Preparing for an Uncertain Future” during NAIOP's Commercial Real Estate Conference in Toronto in October. We spoke exclusively with him about this topic and trends he sees emerging in lifestyle workplace design.

GlobeSt.com: How is office space being creatively designed to realize efficient, yet better, collaboration and employee satisfaction?

Koop: There's a revolution in the workplace going on, and this is based on eight to 10 years of research on how the workplace is changing. We're entering an age in which how we work is dramatically different from the industrial age. Now, with the untethering of people from their desks, work can be done literally anywhere. There are several tactics that have gotten a lot of notice by people. For example, one tactic has been the “workbench” style, where you have a big bench in the office and a lot of people sit on it to work. The idea is to promote collaboration, but in many cases there are unintended consequences in the results. There's a lot of experimentation going on and a lot of learning, but also a lot of failures. So, we're milling our way through these new tactics.

GlobeSt.com: What are the new trends in communal office space/lifestyle concepts?

Koop: We're finally seeing organizations starting to think more strategically vs. tactically about their office-space design. Tactically would be to go from enclosed offices to benches because you'll collaborate more, but people couldn't find a place to do their concentrated work. We're finding that forward-thinking organizations are going beyond tactics and asking, “What do we want to achieve in our organization? How much collaboration do we need: 30% of the time, 40% of the time?” I'd say only 10% to 15% of organizations are thinking this way, but I think this is going to be the biggest trend. People who are an overall strategy to office space are getting huge results, and this will be a differentiator for organizations.

GlobeSt.com: What other trends do you see emerging as these concepts take hold and become more mainstream in the office market?

Koop: People who are thinking strategically about their office space are beginning to look for measurements. They want quantitative facts on the results they see. They also want to understand cause and effect more. For example, one of our buildings, 888 Boylston St. here in Boston, will be Boston's most sustainable building, but also its first high-performance office space. The architecture on the exterior is important, but not as important as how it's designed for the performance of the individuals on the inside. We're going to have 16-ft. clear glass continuously on the building exterior, so 60% of the time you will not need to use artificial light in this office building. We know through research that human beings are so much more productive if they're working under natural light vs. harsh artificial light. Several clients going into this building responded to that in a huge way. For them, the ability to be more efficient, more productive and more alert could be a matter of millions of dollars. Also, there's the focus on air quality and freshness. This building will have 60% to 70% fresh air vs. recirculated air as is the case with a typical office building. Different industries going into this building have responded differently to this. The tech and biotech users believe and understand; other industries not so much. They just want to focus on the cost.

GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about the creation of office space?

Koop: The smart companies will focus on high design of their workspace because they understand that space and place absolutely drive behavior. Those who understand that will have a huge competitive advantage. A healthy and sustainable workspace is the right thing to do, but when you're spending money on human capital, a 10% increase in productivity is huge in terms of what it can mean to a company. One of our office buildings had a lot of high-income people in it, and the tenants estimated that they were spending $1,985 per square foot per person per year. The highest-priced office buildings in the country are $1,300 per square foot—you can buy a whole building for that! It's a practical and smart thing to focus on design when you're spending a lot of money on this precious commodity called knowledge.