Beyond Coworking: Curated Building Environments analyzed the programmatic characteristics of visually compelling and financially feasible co-working environments. The team then applied these elements on a full-building scale to create an alternative to spec suites for growing tenants.
Emergent Research claimed that by 2020 3.8 million professionals would work in co-working facilities. CBRE shared that coworking tenants accounted for 20% of leases signed in Q1 2016, with an expected growth rate of 20%+. Detecting growing demand for coworking spaces, this investigation sought to determine the design characteristics conducive for entrepreneurial occupants to thrive, opportunities to improve upon the model, and projections about how coworking will impact the future of workplace design.
After conducting interviews and tours of three of DC’s largest coworking operators, we analyzed each plan to determine average space allocation ratios and square footage. We identified major design drivers and operational best practices of successful co-working spaces, then applied the best elements of coworking to the full building scale, arriving upon the Curated Building Environment model.
The ratio of closed offices to benching offices to benching was higher than expected, and an enhanced property management model led to a culture of collaboration balanced by business-focused concentration-centric design decisions. We identified a middle-market opportunity, Curated Building Environments, that has impacted our design approach to building amenities and office interiors ever since — specifically in the design of Anthem Row, which delivered full leased to tenants like Apple, WeWork, and Baker Botts.
We continue to study the evolution of coworking and apply best practices from this exploration to our coworking operator clients, spec office building owners, and corporate clients, resulting in buildings designed to maximize productivity and inspiration by providing abundant spatial variety and collision opportunities.