| |  | NEW: Offices are transforming forever. Here's what to expect when you return. The coronavirus pandemic is transforming how employers, real-estate services providers, and landlords are thinking about the office.
Top architects are already designing new floor-plans, while companies are reconsidering how much office space they actually need.
Business Insider talked with dozens of experts to learn what the office of the future will look like.
Rethinking communal space Even before the coronavirus, the world's largest architecture firm was sounding the alarm on open floor plans. Now, companies are looking to revamp designs to encourage employees to eventually return.
Joe Williams spoke with Gensler co-CEOs Andy Cohen and Diane Hoskins, who said that changes ahead include health checkpoints in reception areas and the greater use of ventilation methods to allow for more outside air.
Here are 3 ways that office layouts will change post-coronavirus
The pros and cons of temperature-taking As reopening draws closer, major landlords are split on what type of screening they will use to help prevent a resurgence of the coronavirus. Popularized in Asia, temperature-taking has become a common screening method.
But as Dan Geiger reports, checking for fever brings up issues that have made some major owners wary.
Here's why some big NYC landlords are worried about temperature taking
The timeline for getting back to the office Alex Nicoll chatted with 7 real-estate experts, and learned that the return to the office will likely be marked by two waves: before a vaccine, and after a vaccine. In the long term, the office might convert into the social backbone of a company while focused individual work will take place remotely.
What the transition will look like, and why the workplace may never be the same
Reimagining how people work Dan Geiger spoke with experts from JLL, Goodwin Procter, and Warburg Realty about the future of real estate. The three agreed that the crisis has forced everyone from corporate execs to bosses of smaller businesses to rethink how they use offices.
Companies are considering a more distributed form of working, with traditional offices sharing space with VR tech, a range of coworking centers, remote work, and even hotels.
'We should be prepared for a new normal': how the coronavirus is transforming office
Companies think twice about new leases Major office tenants have begun to rethink big leasing decisions costing tens of millions of dollars. As Dan Geiger reports, Raymond James Financial, Freshly and other major tenants have put big leasing decisions on hold.
And Manhattan's once-booming office leasing market has already begun to dip amid the crisis and as tenants increasingly grow hesitant to sign deals.
Major tenants are delaying big leases in NYC as they re-think office space needs
Overhauling workplace contingency planning As Alex Nicoll reports, workplace continuity plans need to be able to run for much longer than they may have been previously designed to.
If transmission of the virus slows but does not stop, businesses could find a middle ground between full density and remote work by clustering employees in geographically scattered locations. The longer-term response is also fertile ground for the development and adoption of technology.
Real-estate services giant JLL explains a permanent 'paradigm shift' towards more remote work
What the future holds for flex space Before the pandemic, flexible-office companies like WeWork made up a growing chunk of real estate – 2.3% of leasable space in the US — and the sector has surged an around 23% per year since 2010.
Now, insiders told Alex Nicoll and Meghan Morris that they predict a short-term pinch for the industry, as employees fear returning to dense floors and some of the small businesses that relied on these spaces cut headcount.
10 real-estate insiders lay out the future of flex-office, and how employers are prepping now |
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