Not quite work and not quite home, the rise of the Third Place as a go-to choice for staff has been steady, but significant.
As the way we work has continued to evolve post-pandemic, the allure of these co-working environments and their “best of both” offering has remained strong - and why not?
These are places where the chairs are comfy yet supportive and the wifi always works - places where workers can socialise, collaborate and produce with freedom and autonomy.
They have none of the isolation of home, and none of the pressure of the office.
Which is all great news for the operators of co-working spaces - but less so for those paying for office space which isn’t being fully utilised in this new, hybrid work world.
So what’s the answer?
Well fortunately, there are lots of Third Place-inspired design elements which any business can embrace - interiors tricks and tips which will make your own workplace the destination of choice for your employees.
Here are two of our favourites…
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Make space for “unplanned encounters”
One of the best things that co-working spaces offer is the serendipity of unplanned encounters - those chance conversations which open doors to crucial new relationships, fire the spark of innovation or reveal solutions to long-pondered problems.
It’s a very human trait that we do our best work when we work together.
Creating collective cultures where like-minded people can gather, swap and develop ideas is a proven way to foster productivity and innovation - think of the 14th century studios of Renaissance Florence, or the coffee houses of Enlightenment Paris and 1900s Vienna.
In our commercial interiors world, designing in these “casual collisions” has been crucial for leading tech spaces for years.
As Steve Jobs said, “creativity comes from spontaneous meetings, from random discussions.”
“You run into someone, you ask what they’re doing, you say “wow” and soon you’re cooking up all sorts of ideas.”
Steve Jobs
And so, at Apple Park, vast, open spaces draw staff out of their offices to meet and mingle with people they might not otherwise have run into in their daily work lives.
Google’s Heatherwick campus houses shops, restaurants and cafés in an innovative indoor/outdoor setting.
And Dropbox’s Sydney HQ is literally a home-from-home, with a “living room” breakout area replete with squashy sofas and a “dining room” that doubles as a meeting room.
Real-life fluidity and collaboration with DesignTonic
Now, as the importance of creating a more enlightened and balanced approach to work/life has taken a firm hold on businesses and industries across the board, planning in these collaborative, fluid spaces for staff to meet and mingle is key to any new office design…
And it’s an ethos we’ve championed since the day DesignTonic was founded!
A fantastic example of a space made for unplanned encounters, one of our recent projects has seen us create a wonderfully hybrid workplace for Leeds-based firm.
Split over two floors with panoramic river views and a wraparound balcony, this project gave our talented team huge scope to unleash their collective talents - the result being a seamless floorplan that flows from an upstairs gently geared to productivity to a downstairs driven by togetherness and wellbeing.
Throughout the design, a mix of sultry darks, warm woods and poppy colours create a rustic-luxe feel for a homely, comforting vibe that puts workers and visitors instantly at ease.
On the upper floor, an open, airy office area is flanked by Zen work and meeting rooms, with coffee table seating scattered throughout to provide ideal spots for informal get togethers.
Downstairs, the layout is driven by a twin goal of nurturing staff wellbeing and fostering creative collisions.
Here, a fabulous collaborative tiered presentation area opens onto a playful, breakout space, with pool table, café area, “poker rooms” and a gym.
Learn more about this newly invigorated space
DesignTonic X Wizu Workplace-
Think about the “experience” of work
One of the stand-out features that draws people back to co-working spaces time and time again is the quality of the experience on offer.
These spaces are intentionally designed to step way beyond the traditional work boundaries of “a space for your tasks and responsibilities”, prioritising engagement, wellbeing and growth with zones that cater for all kinds of interaction and workday requirements.
We were delighted to team up recently with Wizu Workplace, who’ve been at the forefront of contemporary co-working since their inception in 2015.
Helping to deliver their new space in Glasgow, we worked closely alongside Wizu’s own designers to create a stylish, creative environment that incorporates a space for every workday need - from independent to collaborative zones, hotdesks to zoom rooms.
Finished with bold, bright colours and a soft, luxe palette of fabrics, lighting throughout the whole scheme has been carefully thought out, with every ray of productivity-boosting natural light maximised and showstopping pendants adding visual impact and a real wow factor.
Creating your own experiential office
How do you harness the best of these experiential co-working spaces for your own office?
The key is to create maximum functionality for your workforce.
The best experiential workplaces provide choice - something recognised as key to employee wellbeing - and combine the characteristics of people’s favourite hangouts (cafés, bars, areas from home) with the features needed to facilitate the tasks your staff complete on a day-to-day basis.
What people want can vary across industries and generations, but there are certain elements which consistently work well as part of an ideal mix:
Café Society
For informal collaboration and gentle downtime that suits the vast majority, few spaces beat the internal coffee house or work café.
Complete with comfortable seating that covers all needs - from bar stools to booths - our third project for the rapidly expanding Irving Knight (above) includes this gorgeous café area, which offers something for everyone, whether they’re kicking back or catching up.
DesignTonic X Mackenzie Stuart & Charlton Morris
The Clubhouse
Where worktime morphs into playtime, these informal spaces are a brilliant way to encourage connection and build community among workmates.
From company bars like those at Mackenzie Stuart and Charlton Morris (above) to standout breakouts that include gyms, yoga rooms and outdoor seating, there are lots of ways to incorporate clubhouse vibes into your work environment.
Quiet Time
Restful, private spaces are the best place for quiet, focused work and professional meetings.
We built in a range of focus options when we revisited our old friends at 26 Digital recently.
Booths and multi-purpose “zones” that are screened and/or acoustically protected work wonderfully well for small group work, and for solitary focus, we built in some of our bespoke phone booths - fast becoming one of our most-requested, and most-loved, office interior options!
