DESIGN

 

What Will the Office Look Like Post-Pandemic? Nobody Knows

The future of the office was a regular topic on Treehugger long before the Covid-19 pandemic sent everyone home. We made the case that, from a sustainability standpoint, "every square foot of glass and steel office building or concrete parking garage that is not built is a plus for the environment." The same can be said for "every drive that isn't taken to the office" and "every highway that isn't expanded to accommodate more commuters."

The consensus now seems to be that most companies will be trying a hybrid situation, with employees splitting their time between home and office, but nobody quite knows yet how it will work.

Even the Herman Miller company, which has been designing offices for over 100 years, is not quite sure where it is going. It has just introduced the OE1 system, which it calls a "post-pandemic office collection."

Ryan Anderson, Herman Miller's vice president of global research and insights, explained in a press release:

“With people forced to work outside of offices, traditional means of workplace planning have been challenged by the unpredictability of how people will work now and in the future. These changes will continue, and workspaces need to constantly adapt. Workers are ready for a greater degree of variety, choice, and control — people want their environments to work for them, and OE1 is designed to enable that."