The Rise of the Office Experience: Rooftop Terraces, Auditoriums and More

As businesses are busy optimising their workplace strategies for the post-Covid world of work, the office experience will be paramount. Part of that will involve amenity-rich space taking centre stage. Here’s what that might look like.

What would your dream office include?

Well, according to our LinkedIn poll, which welcomed 1,652 votes, 38% of people said a fitness studio or a gym, 36% said a rooftop terrace, and 22% said a great café or restaurant. The comments were filled with other brilliant suggestions – many of which said: “All of the above.”

Others wanted grocery stores, multipurpose rooftop sports facilities, on-site nurseries to help working parents, concierge services, hotel-like experiences and even cricket nets with bowling machines.
Though some are slightly more far-fetched than others, the demand for high-quality office space – featuring amenities that support collaboration and wellbeing – is clear.

Amanda Lim, Head of our Flexible Office Solutions team, explains: “Businesses are putting innovation, collaboration and staff development at the forefront of their real estate strategy, and the right office is perfectly placed to support that agenda.”

Lee Elliott, Head of Global Occupier Research, speaks to Amanda Lim Head of our Flexible Office Solutions team, and James Fairweather, a partner in our Tenant Representation team, as part of the London Report about the rise of the office experience.

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Respondents wanted grocery stores, multipurpose rooftop sports facilities, on-site nurseries to help working parents, concierge services, hotel-like experiences and even cricket nets with bowling machines.

Albeit a pre-Covid example, take Bloomberg’s office in Hong Kong, SAR; which shows how businesses are using office space design to encourage collaboration.

According to architecture magazine, Dezeen, it features an impressive staircase that encourages chance encounters and water-cooler moments with “generous landings, seating areas and strategically positioned windows”. It helps facilitate those ‘just bumped into’ moments that inspire innovation.

Beyond collaboration, the need to upskill staff will also play a crucial role in shaping the office experience, especially with the UK “heading towards a digital skills shortage”.

As James Fairweather, a Partner in our Tenant Representation team, explains in The London Report: “Considering the rise of new tech and artificial intelligence entering the market, employees will need to upskill. We’re acquiring space in the West End for a business which will actually include an academy, with lecture theatres and breakout areas.”

It’s true – businesses are already recognising the value of including these wow-factor features in their offices.

In October 2020, energy giant BP signed up for 50,000 square feet of space at The Office Group’s Douglas House in Fitzrovia. The goal was to give its employees a more agile workspace that helps them collaborate and thrive. Working closely with TOG – a flexible office provider renowned for its focus on design – the customised hub includes a state-of-the-art gym, a roof terrace, a barista bar, and event space.

Likewise, investment bank Peel Hunt recently relocated to what it called “a modern workspace for these modern times” in the City. It’s equipped with state-of-the-art tech, a wellbeing room, and even a 110-seat auditorium. The move, according to Chief Executive Steven Fine, will give employees the chance to “work more flexibly [and] collaborate more effectively, while supporting training, innovation and, importantly, our culture."

After months of working from home, it’s unsurprising that businesses want their offices to be experiences rather than just locations.

“You cannot build a business culture or initiate new relationships over Zoom,” says Amanda Lim. “It’s completely different to what you can do in person. In the past few years, there’s been a record number of startups created in London, how can those businesses thrive if colleagues cannot sit alongside one another?”

For businesses who don’t know how to achieve that amenity-rich office experience on their own, flexible office space might be a perfect ready-made fit.

But the issue extends to bigger, more established businesses, too. Barclay’s boss Jes Staley recently said about working from home: “It will increasingly be a challenge to maintain the culture and collaboration that these large financial institutions seek to have and should have.”

Echoing this, chancellor Rishi Sunak recently said: “You can't beat the spontaneity, the team building, the culture that you create in a firm or an organisation from people actually spending physical time together.”

Not only did lockdown challenge our mental health and wellbeing, but it depleted our levels of ‘social capital’, a term economists have coined for the currency generated by being face-to-face with others.

A curated office experience will serve to rebuild these key pillars and enhance the way that people live and work.

For businesses who don’t know how to achieve that amenity-rich office experience on their own, flexible office space might be a perfect ready-made fit.

For businesses who don’t know how to achieve that amenity-rich office experience on their own, flexible office space might be a perfect ready-made fit.