Design Forecast 2016

Gensler Design Forecast 2016
Commercial Office
Building Developers
Empowering a new
workforce
As workers gravitate toward social settings,
apart from home and work, new and
repositioned “office buildings” will make
room for them. Openness and connection
to adjoining buildings and districts will gain
importance. As mobile workers switch
between office space and “third place”
alternatives, owners and developers that
focus on transit-served, mixed-use districts
may have an edge in attracting them.
The demand for workplace flexibility
will be reinforced by buildings that let
organizations, teams, and individuals shape
space on the fly. Faster adaptability will
be the norm, and buildings will reflect this in
form, structure, interior volume, façades, and
services. Space will become more democratic
as flatter, innovation-hungry organizations
embrace agile, autonomous teams that are
directly accountable for their results.
opposite: AVIC International Financial Center,
Chengdu, China
below: RGA, Chesterfield, MO
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