Half the space, twice the experience – is outsourcing the future of the workplace?

Nearly three quarters of companies around the world plan to make their offices 100% unassigned collaborative spaces, according to a recent report from JLL, while research from CBRE suggests that almost two fifths (39%) of occupiers in the EMEA region try to encourage employees to return to the office with curated events or other workplace experiences.

These are important trends because they show that as well as facing growing demand for flexibility, the commercial office sector is witnessing a flight to quality. Companies are willing to invest in – or even outsource the delivery of – thoughtful design and amenities that position their office as a ‘destination,’ attracting employees to return, at least on a part-time basis. In doing so, landlords can benefit financially from creating imaginative deal structures for their building and its occupants.

How, then, can office building owners and developers adjust to the new workplace rules?

It starts with clarifying the current, updated purpose of the office. I believe it boils down to this: we can do individual work wherever, but impactful and inspiring team-based work requires purpose-built meeting and social event spaces which have the tools and amenities to support collaboration. We must shift the way we see the workplace to be more of a meeting and collaboration space.

This pivot, in turn, is changing the composition of the multi-tenant office building, and, arguably, the wider central business district. Over time, we’ll see occupiers leasing less space for their individual needs, while increasing the outsourcing of purpose-built venues for specific events and activities.

Because of this, we will see the office sector evolve to offer more of an integrated ecosystem, one in which we see different tenants in the same building or district becoming interdependent. Such an ecosystem could feature amenities including restaurants, fitness centers, dry-cleaning facilities and more. By transforming the building stack offering, landlords will create a more attractive workplace destination.

This model has already proven successful at 22 Bishopsgate (pictured), where the building’s tenants have taken an average of 5% less square footage by outsourcing their meetings and events to the in-building Convene, a premium provider of meeting and event spaces. Clients have access to seven unique meeting rooms, which can be configured to accommodate various event types, as well as an in-house culinary team, award-winning design, and top-tier AV and production services to deliver a turnkey experience for in-person and hybrid events. Similarly, across the pond in Chicago, office building 311 West Monroe Street went from 0% to 100% occupancy in just nine months by leveraging Convene as part of its amenity stack.

Coming out of the pandemic, the office market is at a turning point. The workplace needs to be reimagined as a destination to attract employees back on-site, if even just a few days per week. To see long-term success, it is imperative for developers and landlords to adopt an ecosystem model in office buildings to ensure they provide an amenity-driven, technology-enabled workplace that suits everyone.