Traditional office space design included cubicle farms, closed off conference rooms, and small, cramped employee breakrooms. Considering that traditional office space was filled primarily by businesses that put a premium on client confidentiality, it’s no surprise that this closed-off design aesthetic was so popular. The walls were necessary to discuss private information and to maintain the client’s highest confidence in the security of their private information.
However, more recently, there has been a shift in workspace design. More and more investors and landlords are changing the overall landscape of commercial real estate design. Gone are the days of closed-off cubicle farms and, well, walls. The office space of today is offering wide-open spaces, ample natural light, and glass enclosed spaces. Contemporary office space is also shifting from the more conventional layout of private offices, a reception area, and conference rooms to more of a coworking and shared office space environment. Coworking space provides tenants with conference rooms and a reception area much like conventional space, but these new and improved office spaces also provide wide-open space for desks to be set up optimally for collaboration and innovation.
Why is this trend changing? More and more technology companies are occupying high-end office space and their priority is collaboration. Though security and confidentiality are still important to any company occupying coworking space or shared office space, there are now much better ways to secure client information than by building walls and locking drawers. With more and more companies coming to realize this, there has been a huge shift toward the coworking movement in recent years.
One example of a commercial property that is ahead of the curve on the design trend is 12100 Wilshire located in West Los Angeles, CA. This prestigious class A property offers tenants coworking space, team rooms, conference rooms, and a modern interior design. Companies like Spaces and WeWork offer plenty of coworking space, for example 730 Arizona Ave, offering urban, trendy designed coworking space near me, glass walls, collaborative space, and so much more.
It’s no secret where commercial real estate design trends are now, clearly in camp coworking space. But where will they go? Will we continue to see more and more coworking operators or will there be another sharp shift with the next generation? Though office space has reacted to the traditional, closed-off design by running all the way to the other side of the spectrum, there is a balance. There’s a balance of privacy, professionalism, and collaboration.
With more and more of the next generation popping up into the workforce, we’ll start to see another shift in office space design. Perhaps this time, walls with go up, or perhaps more will come down. There are some commercial properties offering indoor-outdoor workspace in the sunny climate of California, like the Univision Building in Los Angeles, CA. These commercial spaces might very well be on the forefront of a new design trend. Only time will tell how these spaces go over with the working tenants.