“Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need… roads” but we do need a good imagination and some basic knowledge.
The journey begins here: the office of the future awaits you. A space reimagined to go far beyond the traditional office and become more like the Enterprise’s command bridge.
Fasten your seatbelts, nerds and geeks, and get ready to meet your own personal R2-D2.
How work is changing: offices from past to present
Before we take a leap forwards, let us take a step back to better understand where we are heading.
It is the 1960s, and the German designers Eberhard and Wolfgang Schnelle introduce what will come to be known as ‘office landscapes’ (Bürolandschaft), where open spaces, lounge areas and informal rooms are intended to encourage communication and collaboration.
It appeared to be a brilliant and revolutionary idea, but it soon began to falter. Subsequent research revealed that “open-plan” offices can lead to greater stress and lower satisfaction: while they encourage interaction between colleagues, they also impair concentration.
The Schnelle brothers’ layout therefore soon loses ground, giving way, between the 1970s and the 1990s, to a very different approach. These are years marked by strong hierarchies, with employees sharing spaces and executives occupying large private offices. In this model, around 75% of the interior space is dedicated to desk workstations, while the remaining 25% comprises meeting rooms and other shared areas such as break areas, bars and relaxation spaces. It is during this period, specifically around the 1980s, that the “cubicles” so often depicted in films of the time emerge.
The 1990s saw the rise of the World Wide Web, the first mobile phones and laptops, creating fertile ground for smart working. While companies began to recognise the benefits of remote working – which gradually led to offices becoming decentralised – interest in open-plan spaces also revived, despite existing concerns about privacy in this type of working environment.
On the threshold of the new millennium
Funky, colourful offices with a vaguely hipster feel are the result of influence from across the Atlantic, where giants such as Facebook and Google strongly support the return of the open-plan model.
Far less like offices and much more like coworking spaces, these environments reflect the new corporate culture. Furnishings are therefore no longer an accessory: decorative elements, green plants, adjustable desks, ergonomic seating and touches of colour on the walls are the prevailing trends. Every centimetre of floor space is valuable, and transitional areas such as corridors and entrances are removed to create a new form of office that is no longer merely a backdrop, but an integral part of team dynamics.
The key principle therefore becomes “flexibility”, based on the idea that choosing where and how to work, both within and outside the company’s premises, can support productivity and creativity, while significantly reducing stress levels.
During and after the pandemic
Il COVID-19 has radically transformed the concept of the workplace, bringing profound changes to both how people work and the layout and configuration of spaces. Remote working, which emerged in the 1970s and gained greater prominence in 2000, has become increasingly widespread. Zoom and Microsoft Teams are the new offices, while companies that continued to operate reduced occupancy density and implemented safety measures such as physical distancing and sanitisation stations.
One process that was already under way, but accelerated in the post-pandemic years, is the increase in shared spaces at the expense of private ones. Individual workstations have decreased to 30%, while shared workstations have increased to 70%, with greater emphasis on safety and privacy.
We are living in the age of “hybrid working”. This trend has become the norm and therefore requires regulation. From 1 April 2024, Law 81 in Italy introduced stricter rules for agile working, applicable to all employees in both the public and private sectors. Agile working is no longer an automatic right but requires an agreement between the employee and the employer.
What will happen? We will find out. One thing is certain: there needs to be a compelling reason to bring back to the office those who have not worked there for years.
Wellbeing at work
Over more than 50 years of research, Environmental Psychology has taught us a great deal: the environments we find ourselves in genuinely influence our emotions and behaviours. While wellbeing at work is an increasingly discussed topic today, it will become even more important in the office of the future.
Structural features, such as the layout of spaces, architecture and even air quality, affect not only productivity, but also employees’ health and level of satisfaction. Environmental stress can make it difficult to concentrate, remember information and work as a team.
The office of the future requires organisation
According to Cornell University’s International Workplace Studies Program, it is important that the space not only reflects the group’s identity and supports communication and the achievement of objectives, but is also adaptable to change.
Organising interior spaces requires careful analysis of the objectives, the type of work and the number of employees involved. Nevertheless, three key factors must always be considered: privacy, personalisation and contact with nature. The office of the future must therefore take these characteristics into account
The office of the future
Ready for take-off?
Just like in a hotel
2024: Allen Blue, Vice President of Product Management and co-founder of LinkedIn, believes that the offices of the future will evolve towards an increasingly hotel-like model, offering options such as hot-desking and hoteling.
2054: the Vice President was right. The office of the future no longer has fixed workstations, but instead offers flexible spaces that are welcoming, designed to encourage collaboration and equipped with technology to support meetings and brainstorming sessions. Hybrid working still exists, but is more closely integrated into team dynamics.
The office of the future is Hub and Spoke
2024: balancing commuting time and managing premises costs is an ongoing concern for many, but there is another side to the issue: empty offices are a poor investment.
2054: goodbye to the large building in the heart of the city, and welcome to the “hub and spoke” model. This organisational approach comprises a headquarters or “hub” – which acts as the central base – and several satellite offices. It is a regional network designed to facilitate collaboration and a sense of belonging by distributing offices across urban and suburban areas. This arrangement offers further benefits: parking in outlying areas tends to be free, while office operating costs are significantly lower than in city-centre locations, where space is scarce.
Meeting rooms as an immersive experience
2024: during the pandemic, technology made significant progress, laying the foundations for transforming the future of buildings. Mixed-reality workspaces are beginning to combine the digital and physical worlds. Andrew Bosworth of Meta Reality Labs says that Meta is developing a platform that will make it possible to “move from the real world to the virtual world” through augmented reality and virtual reality.
2054: If you have not yet watched the Black Mirror episode “Striking Vipers”, now is a good time to do so.
In the office of the future, meeting rooms become advanced collaboration hubs, bringing remote and on-site staff together. What you see are realistic 3D avatars that mimic body language, and optimised workstations with virtual screens to improve productivity.
Thanks to high-resolution displays ad alta risoluzione, we can have a 360-degree view of team members and content, creating the sense that everyone is gathered around the same table. Sophisticated audio systems make communication clear, while augmented reality enriches the physical environment with digital information. Finally, virtual reality opens the door to immersive digital conferences, involving participants from around the world.
Long-standing and new colleagues
2024: the continued evolution of AI and machine learning lays the foundations for the development of increasingly sophisticated robots, capable of learning, adapting and interacting naturally with humans.
2054: Prepare to welcome your new colleagues. Artificial intelligence systems have been designed to work alongside you, improving both the efficiency and quality of the work carried out. Robots take on repetitive tasks and tasks requiring precision, allowing employees to focus on activities that require creativity and emotional intelligence. They can also operate in hazardous environments, thereby ensuring the safety of their human colleagues.
How is work changing? People at the centre
2024: although remote working has allowed people to devote more time to hobbies and their personal lives, the lack of clear boundaries has put some at risk of burnout.
2054: focusing on the individual is the key to success. Childcare facilities, pet-friendly policies and care centres are now the norm. There are dedicated spaces for meditation, yoga and physical exercise. Relaxation areas with comfortable seating and recreational activities encourage breaks and informal interactions, fostering new ideas and collaboration.
The office of the future: what we have learned
We have taken an extraordinary journey through history, from the sterile confines of cubicle offices to the sumptuous rooms of senior executives, surrounded by the smell of leather from their imposing armchairs. We explored the offices we use every day, before being catapulted into the office of the future, worthy of an episode of Futurama.
Having analysed current trends and looked ahead to the future, we have reached a conclusion: all the conditions are in place for radical change. It is time to reconsider the traditional office and adapt it to today’s needs. This challenge requires collaboration between HR and managers, who must find the right balance between the needs of employees and the wellbeing of the company.
