Office design is indeed hard work to accomplish. Great office design has to be necessarily dynamic and this must adapt to the various needs both in the short as well as long term. The same physical building for the office will likely to be in place for several decades although the interior design is likely to change once in every few years.
When we talk on a practical level, the office design is certainly static. This is physical. It’s set in concrete the minute when the construction of the office building work finishes & the concerned design agency sets up space. How can the expert office designers think of creating the desired flexibility that the office spaces of the present age demand? This is very different from designing a custom residential house for a family. When a residential house is being built for a family, this can be assumed that a particular family will occupy the house for decades. But an office space can be occupied by several organizations with passing time. How can the office design be receptive to the probable changes with passing time and changing organizational structure?
Traditionally, the offices used to be occupied for a few years by a finite/definite number of tenants. Even if the designer does not know who the first tenant would be, then can certainly assume that one company would occupy the space for several months. Knowing this, the designers can certainly opt for some neural and easily modifiable design keeping this in mind that the future occupant would require to make the office space utilization in their own way as per their requirements.
Even so, the flexibility was only required on a very basic level (for example – this should be easy and convenient to install new lighting or wall paintings). The office would not require to cater to several work styles. In case a quirky company wants to use rolling desks & non-standard meeting or conference rooms, the organization which occupies the workspace may probably hire their own designer for customizing the workspace. There are several standard office designs which are usually followed by the constructors so that they can be used relevantly by any organization.
Now coming to coworking, in the coworking spaces the tenants are not like the conventional occupiers/tenants of the workspace. They are more like consumers of the space with lesser liabilities at many times there are no strings attached. When a workspace is rented out for a short term with lesser commitment, then this might feel similar to a hotel space. Indeed, the coworking spaces have a few similarities like hotel space but undoubtedly the coworking spaces stand out by owning absolutely vivid & creative interior design. This is the Unique Selling Point (USP) which attracts more and more new-age potential millennial consumers to the dynamic coworking spaces. A coworking space is designed in such a way that it can precisely cater to the specific needs just like the rolling desks etc. which sets the coworking spaces ahead of the competition. A coworking space has the potential of offering a variety of amenities & support several kinds of lifestyles instead of shooting for any particular working style. There is absolutely no harm if you dedicate a small area within the coworking space for non-traditional amenities like placing the Ping-Pong tables or scopes of other indoor games.
The special initiatives put in designing coworking space Gurgaon make it aesthetically more distinct in order to appeal short-term consumers of the office space. They are also functionally more varied as that do not have to commit the entire workspace to any one specific work style. This is indeed great news for several startups which are booming out there. For the startups, it is easier to find a suitable workspace within the coworking spaces as these spaces meet specific and obscure needs in the best possible manner in a customized way.
Interestingly, this particular trend of coworking makes the designer’s job much more fun as they can pursue a unique look & feel and curate the space without worrying whether it would suit the future tenant or not. The coworking space designer is largely responsible for branding the coworking space itself and space do not have to align itself with the brand of any specific corporate giant which might become its tenant in the near future. Keeping that fact in mind, the coworking spaces can easily branch out from corporate branding & comfortably develop their own unique brands that will very potentially attract several startups who are keen on having an aesthetic as well as a functional workspace within a cost-effective budget.
There is certainly no use in designing a coworking space as if you are designing an art museum. The space necessarily needs to be flexible and functional which would have the right potential of fulfilling the customers’ desires. All in all, a coworking space should ideally be a right and proportionate blend of functionality and aesthetics. If you have been operating from an organized coworking space, you would certainly know that they are much ahead in terms of functionality & aesthetics even in comparison to the lavish corporate offices.
Coworking space designers are enjoying an immense level of creative freedom in recent years than never before and this is being highly appreciated by the millennial workforce. So, this is an inevitable fact that the coworking is highly influencing the office design and the changes are certainly for the better.
We would be more than happy to hear your experience of coworking and views on this regard. Write to us in the comment box below.
