GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) ? The coronavirus already changed the way we work. Now it’s changing the physical space, too.
Many companies are making adjustments to their offices to help employees feel safer as they return to in-person work, like improving air circulation systems or moving desks further apart. Others are ditching desks and building more conference rooms to accommodate employees who still work remotely but come in for meetings.
Architects and designers say this is a time of experimentation and reflection for employers. Steelcase, an office furniture company based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, says its research indicates half of global companies plan major redesigns to their office space this year.
“This year caused you to think, maybe even more fundamentally than you ever have before, `Hey, why do we go to an office"”’ said Natalie Engels, a San Jose, California-based design principal at Gensler, an architecture firm. Not every company is making changes, and Engels stresses that they don’t have to. She tells clients to remember what worked well ? and what didn’t ? before the pandemic.
But designers say many companies are looking for new ways to make employees feel safe and invigorated at the office, especially as a labor crunch makes hiring more difficult.
That’s what drove food and pharmaceutical company Ajinomoto to overhaul the design of its new North American headquarters outside Chicago last year.
Ajinomoto’s...