Creating offices is easy. You need a building, good architects and designers and the right range of office furniture. Creating ecosystems, however, is an entirely different challenge.
While developers today are charged with creating net zero buildings that also offer a good ROI to their investors, workspace operators and organisations across all industries and of all sizes are charged with delivering workspaces that push the boundaries of social fabric, ultimately promoting a positive working and social experience for all employees (or members).
The real key to collaboration and culture is the ecosystem you create. The future of the office is not necessarily about flexible design or hybrid operational models, but around the company you keep. Arguably, many high-profile companies now boast ‘flexible working’ only because the government has mandated them to do so. However, employees want more than flexible rent pricing and hot-desk options.
They want to feel part of something, to have an engaging and fresh workspace experience. In today’s world, the commute is only justified when it leads you to an exciting, dynamic workplace and a space that offers you more than what your working-from-home set-up ever could.
Yes, design and flexibility are instrumental in a desirable workplace. Still, if we learned anything from the pandemic, it was the importance of face-to-face time, collaboration and skill-sharing. Teams who don’t get together can’t create the same bond and cultural dynamic as those who do actually see each other.
The mission at Huckletree is to create world-class innovation spaces that propel the world’s most exciting businesses to scale, and we do this by designing the right ecosystems for them to operate within.
Our ecosystems cater to specific sectors, providing platforms that enable the businesses within to advance and gain market share at speed – so much so that non-participation could be deemed a competitive risk.
This year, we are looking to open our first net zero hub – a global home for the world’s most exciting sustainability businesses. ESG is at the top of the agenda for almost every company right now. By building spaces that are more tailored to our working needs, the built environment’s relationship with the world around us becomes more symbiotic. As the world moves towards net zero, we all have a part to play.
In short, 2022 is the year of social value in the workplace, from the sustainability of the building right through to job creation, neighbourhood and local-area development and, for businesses, increasing staff engagement and value. While the remit is broad, every workspace operator or occupier must think about the bigger picture now rather than later.
Gabriela Hersham is co-founder and chief executive of Huckletree
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