How Companies Use Office Space

NEW YORK CITY—Ted Moudis Associates’ annual Workplace Report continues to show that almost every organization we work with is looking to achieve many of the same goals around recruitment and retention, increasing team interaction, focus on well-being and creating space that reflects their culture and values. And while many of our clients have these similar goals for their projects, they all have different ways of achieving them.

The Most Striking Revelation in this Year’s Report

In analyzing more than 3.3 million square feet of office space built during the past two years, we saw a decrease in the usable square foot per work seat. The more significant change represented by the data this year was a wider range between the lowest square footage per work seat to the largest square footage per work seat. From 2018, the gap widened by 35%, which speaks to the tailored work environments and the bespoke nature of the offices we are designing for our clients.

Steps Clients Are Taking to Address Employees’ Well-Being in the Workplace

Wellbeing and mindfulness are hot topics in workplace strategy today. We spend the majority of our days indoors, in the office, an environment that has a direct impact on our mental, emotional and physical wellbeing.

Simply changing your location or posture can also change your mood, which is why the percentage of projects where every employee is given access to a sit-stand desk increased more than eight-fold since the firm’s first workplace report in 2016. There are great health benefits associated with sit-stand desks, and 74% of employees represented in this year’s report are working at one every day.

We are also now having conversations with our clients about spaces for quiet reprieve and restoration, whether it’s a space for meditation, reflection or a power nap.

How Organizations Maintain Productivity While Being More Efficient with Real Estate

We create spaces that are purposeful and thoughtful by taking into consideration how the teams work. How often do they come together and for what reason? What portion of the day are associates engaged in heads-down work or are out at meetings? When we ask these questions and utilize the data to weigh these factors, we can then design a space to support each organization’s individual needs, not just a space that “looks good”—though that’s important too.

In today’s office, we also recognize that distraction is a large concern. Employees need access to proper space designed for focus. Quiet rooms and individual or small group phone rooms are a great addition to the workplace, as they provide the ability to work distraction-free.

Predictions for 2020

We’re going to see more strategy-driven workplace transformations. While the data that we and others collect is crucial to making smarter decisions, it also comes down to asking the right questions about how a client will use their space and what will be efficient and flexible for their business down the road.

Wellness in the workplace is also where we anticipate more opportunity to be creative in our approach. Wellness is about going beyond the green wall or sit-stand desk, it’s about finding ways to truly support each individual’s mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. We predict that we’ll see more projects with circadian lighting, meditation rooms, spaces or things to “reset” or enhance mood, and an increased focus on biophilia in the workspace.

Jamie Feuerborn is the director of workplace strategy at the architecture and design firm Ted Moudis Associates. She has nearly 20 years of experience in workplace consulting, interior design and project management. Founded in 1990, the firm is headquartered in New York City, has an office in Chicago and an alliance in London. The views expressed in this article are the author’s and not those of ALM Media’s Real Estate Group.