Partners and architects Paulette Christophersen and Søren Mølbak talked about workplace design of the future at Norhcon’s conference

How do we best put building to use in order to support the needs of the organisation and fit the activities that are supposed to happen inside the buildings? What trends and traditions do we see right now within workplace design – and how will they develop? Those were some of the questions that partners Paulette Christophersen and Søren Mølbak answered at Norhcon’s conference about the future of workplace design yesterday.

Trends in future workplace design: building in stress downtime

Paulette Christophersen spoke about trends in workplace design. She had three key points. First - that flexible design is still important, because the need of the client changes over time. The architecture and workplace design must be flexible in order to be able to change and adapt to the changing needs of organisations and companies. Secondly - there is still a large demand for branding in architecture and workplace design. Companies and organisations want a strong identity. They also wish to decorate and brand spaces in order to maintain employees. Paulette’s final key point was that now, there is strong focus in workplace design on creating a social sustainable workplace by designing with plants and green areas and creating relaxing time-out areas with possibilities for movement. Both contributes to reducing stress and supports a happy, healthy and productive workforce.

Work-life, education and home environments coalesce

The trends should be seen in light of that fact that the way we live our lives is about to change radically. Previously, a lifetime was divided into different phases. We spent our youth learning and educating ourselves. Then we came out on to the labour market where we put our professional competences to use. Then, we became old and retired from the labour market finally having enough free time to live our lives. Now, the phases overlap – we expect that our workplace can integrate and facilitate that we live our lives, work and educate us at the same time. At the workplace of the future offices, educational institutions and home environments coalesce.

”It is our responsibility as designers to make sure we build in ways to stress-down at work.”
- Paulette Christophersen, partner PLH Arkitekter

Paulette mentioned different examples of PLH architecture and workplace design that underlines the tendencies. Here a few examples:

A sustainable work environment: AB Lietuvos Draudimas’ new HQ in Lithuania.
The integration of offices and housing is the focal point. The urban environment is drawn into the office area, and both residents and employees can enjoy the common courtyard.

Read more about AB AB Lietuvos Draudimas here.

Branding: The new HQ of the hearing aid company Sivantos, Singapore. The sound wall in the reception area creates an immediate ”wow-effect” when customers and visitors enter the building. At the same time, the sound wall underlines the identity and branding of the company, revolving around the concept – Sound Unites Us.

Read more about Sivantos’ new HQ here.

Agile and scalable workplaces: Ørestad City III, BLVD. 31. will be an office building shaped as a snake with scalable flexible spaces. Focus has been on creating a modern house inspired by a mix of offices, hotels, housing and educational environments.

Read more about BLVD. 31 here.

AB Lietuvos Draudimas’ new HQ in Lithuania

Panel debate: office marked in high demand – expectations for the office of the future

Right now, the marked for office spaces is in high demand in Denmark. Søren Mølbak participated in a panel debate where the participants presented their views on the office of the future – including their views on the most popular spaces and what companies value when choosing office spaces and location. The other participants on the panel were Monica Hammer, Head of Office Leasing at Colliers and Stig Fermi-Erichsen, Property Manager at KLP Ejendomme.

Fron left: Monica Hammer, Head of Office Leasing at Colliers, Søren Mølbak partner at PLH Arkitekter, and Stig Fermi-Erichsen, Property Manager at KLP Ejendomme.