By Owen Rice

Everyone loves a good Sci-Fi movie that piques the imagination and spurs thoughts of different ways society and technology will change. While there have already been some changes in how we use technology, there are still brilliant ideas that have yet to become a reality. But how will corporate office space change in the future?

The Vision

John, CEO of Futurecorp, steps off his flight in Seattle and his driverless Uber takes him to his company’s office. Upon arrival, a facial recognition scanner sees John and opens the front door. An artificial intelligence receptionist greets him as he steps into his first meeting located in a virtual reality meeting room where he will tour a potential new office half way across the world. The internet-of-things connected office space is aware that John is finishing his meeting and the coffee machine is cued to prepare his americano while his workstation brings up his documents for the next meeting before he even arrives at the desk.

Sounds like the Sci-Fi office of 3064, right?

With emerging consumer and business technologies, the future of corporate offices is more exciting than ever before. The vision of John flowing seamlessly through an office that caters to his productivity and experience is not as far off as one might think. While this scenario may seem fictional, many of the concepts are based around saving time and increasing productivity, a constant topic addressed in offices across the globe on any given day!

The Productivity War

New office design has a focus on how to increase human productivity and foster creative problem solving. 10 years from now, offices will improve our cognitive process and provide flexibility for various working preferences. Game changing offices such as Twentytwo in London already have amenities focused on performance and have designed a hospitality-like office experience. Twentytwo will have a market, accelerator space for startups, a retreat for yoga and meditation, a gym that includes a 400-foot rock climbing window, a club and restaurant all underlined with high-tech features. Another industry-leading development is New York City’s Hudson Yards, the largest private real-estate development in US history. Hudson Yards is regarded as a smart neighborhood as it utilizes new technology to connect residential towers, restaurants, retail and office spaces in a user experience focused manner. The smart cities of the future are already being developed before our eyes.

The Challenge

Dynamic businesses move fast, and so do their space needs. Building owners will need to adapt the current office product to address business flexibility. Office Design Consultant Despina Katsikakis said, “Existing building stock will be reinvented as a blurring of functions becomes the norm as a result of technology that allows us to work, learn and play anywhere and anytime.” With amazing new offices emerging on the market, it is important that companies create workspaces that cater to the next generation of business leaders wanting to work in a flexible environment with leading amenities. In a commercial real estate sense, this means that tenants will need to demand more from landlords in order to optimize their workspaces to keep up with the fast pace of competition and markets.

While my vision may seem like something straight out of a Sci-Fi movie, the truth is that the incorporation of technology coupled with the drive to increase productivity isn’t so far away from being achieved. Our team at Hughes Marino is constantly looking toward the future and is excited to help push this needle forward alongside companies as we create the future office!