Coworking space design: Incorporating latest trends in online work for enhanced social effectiveness (CWE23)

This 2023 conference presentation examined how coworking and corporate workspace design could respond to changes in work patterns following the COVID-19 pandemic. Francisco Vázquez Medem, an architect and the founder and president of 3g Smart Group, presented the deck at Coworking Europe in Porto on 29 November 2023 under the 3g office brand. The visible slides framed the pandemic as a shock affecting individuals, businesses and society, and argued that it accelerated acceptance of remote and hybrid work by breaking organisational and cultural barriers. They associated remote work with greater control over time and aspirations for a better quality of life, while linking wider social vulnerability to a reassessment of unlimited development and the growth of the B Corp movement. The presentation described these shifts as part of a “new normality” that challenged cultural paradigms obstructing digital transformation. Its concluding design proposition placed individual experience at the centre of workplace planning: travelling to a corporate headquarters needed to provide sufficient value to the employee. The deck therefore connected workspace design with hybrid work, digital transformation, organisational culture and the perceived quality of the workplace experience.

Key findings

• The presentation argued that the pandemic broke cultural barriers within organisations and removed objections to hybrid work.
• Remote work was associated with greater control over personal time and the aspiration to achieve a better quality of life.
• Workplace design was framed around individual experience, with corporate headquarters needing to offer sufficient value to justify the journey.

Presented by Francisco Vázquez Medem, 3g office, at Coworking Europe 2023