A new vision for post-pandemic offices

Nigel Scorer, director at Contents Design, believes agile working in a post-pandemic world will move from luxury to necessity. In turn, that will prompt a re-evaluation of how to most effectively design office environments.

He says: “There’ll still be a need for traditional rows of desks, but it will reduce. That will then free up space to do other things like theming areas of offices into social spaces, meeting spaces, teaching spaces, collaborative work areas and concentrated work areas.”

Mr Scorer, who was the interior architect behind the transformation of Formica Group’s European HQ in North Shields, believes smart design decisions in 2021 can lead to productivity increases, strengthened local economies and significant green impacts. 

In his vision, the home will become a base for concentrated work. Community hubs will revitalise the High Street by becoming a beacon for co-working. And a central experience – what was known as the office HQ – will be “where you bring your staff to experience the brand, essence, shared goals and vision of the business.”

He says: “Fewer cars on the road. Fewer people stuck in traffic. Contributions to the local economy. When you start to put all that together – a better work-life balance, saving the planet and supporting your local economy – people are going to buy into that and it’s going to lead to productivity increases.”