The coworking and managed office market is booming due to the array of benefits these solutions offer to business owners, employees and landlords. While traditionally the market has been driven by demand from small businesses and entrepreneurial start-ups, the sector has rapidly evolved to become a popular choice for larger companies looking for greater flexibility.
For business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs, coworking office spaces provide the opportunity to run with less overhead on more agile lease agreements. They also offer the ability to quickly scale up or down as business changes, the chance to remove the hassle of building and office management from internal teams, and the valuable opportunity to be part of a community of likeminded businesses.
Coworking office design considerations
Following the shift in worker habits post-pandemic, the focus of coworking office design is no longer on providing traditional desk space but on human-centric design. Creating an agile environment which caters for the diverse needs of potential tenants, where collaboration, culture and community can thrive, is key to success.
In a competitive market, ensuring your coworking office design delivers a workplace experience your tenants can’t get elsewhere involves:
- Developing a unique offering. How will you make your space the coworking destination of choice? What kind of community are you hoping to create? Consider local market influences, the types of companies you are looking to attract into your space, and how your offering will help meet their unique needs in a way no other workplace can.
- Making sure you can meet demand. One size doesn’t fit all, so uniformity in design won’t work. Offering a range of adaptable office suites to accommodate businesses of varying sizes is essential, as is the capability to flex spaces up or down to facilitate growth for tenants.
- Providing high quality and unique amenities. The modern office environment is about more than simply providing people with a place to work – business leaders want and need more for their teams in order to attract the best talent. Amenities such as wellness suites, gyms, media studios and coffee bars, plus indoor and outdoor social spaces, are frequently incorporated within coworking offices to add value and create a home-from-home workplace experience for users.
- Creating a community. One of the big benefits for companies opting to relocate to a coworking space is the opportunity to become part of a wider community. The design of your space should consider how you will bring tenants together to network, socialise and collaborate for the greater good.
- Making your space inclusive to all. For your coworking space to be successful, your building and your office space needs to be truly accessible and inclusive to everyone. Flat level access, wide doorways, desks that can accommodate wheelchairs, and accessible toilets and washrooms are just a few things to consider, along with clear signage, assistive technology, induction loops, solutions to aid acoustic comfort and the use of colour. The addition of a multi-faith room and mothers’ room to meet specific member needs will also support inclusivity.
Eight must-have features for your coworking space
Designing a coworking office comes with its own unique challenges as you aren’t creating a space for one business and its individual team’s needs. You are designing an environment which needs to cater for many different organisations and their varying needs.
So, while the priority for one organisation may be access to high-tech meeting spaces, another may be looking for first class amenities to support employee wellbeing. For that reason, the most successful coworking spaces typically include a range of key features that are designed to support various ways of working.
Here are our eight must-have features for your modern coworking office design:
- Office suites of varying sizes: Incorporating office spaces of varying sizes, which can be flexed to accommodate growth or reduced in size if necessary, is essential to attract and retain tenants.
- Collaborative meeting rooms: A range of bookable private and semi-private meeting rooms equipped with the latest tech will provide tenants with dedicated and comfortable spaces to collaborate and hold formal meetings.
- Events spaces: Areas that can be used for training, larger team meetings and social events should be available for tenants to book and utilised by you to host member or wider business community initiatives that foster engagement and connectivity.
- Areas for quiet working. Incorporating quiet zones and sound-proofed pods into your coworking office design will provide space where people can hold private calls and meetings and concentrate on individual tasks without disturbances.
- Refreshment points. A well-equipped kitchen combined with refreshment points throughout your space offer the perfect places to bring the community together as well as allow people to take breaks and rest.
- Spaces to relax. Your coworking space shouldn’t just be about work. As with a traditional office environment, breakout and social areas within the workplace can support wellbeing and enhance overall employee satisfaction. In a coworking space, they can also allow tenants to connect with other occupiers, creating a sense of belonging and community.
- Wellness & fitness facilities. Including facilities which support employee wellness and inclusivity within your coworking space will help your tenants support their team’s health, as well as boost morale and productivity. Wellbeing spaces such as meditation areas can encourage relaxation, while gyms and fitness studios can promote physical activity and encourage a healthy lifestyle among tenants.
- Welfare amenities. Installing the appropriate number of bathrooms (and making sure these are accessible) is a given, but providing showers and changing facilities for those who cycle to work or use the fitness facilities on offer, plus lockers to secure personal items safely, will deliver added comfort and convenience for tenants.
Our team has years of experience working with landlords and serviced office providers, and a proven track record creating world-class coworking and managed office facilities across the UK. If you are a landlord looking for a design and fit-out partner for your next coworking or managed solutions project, we’d love to hear from you.