The In-Between Spaces - Flexible, unexpected spaces that cater to the highly-mobile workforce of tomorrow.

The workplace in 2022 was defined by employers fully embracing the hybrid-working model. Remote working found its groove, leaving traditional office spaces to refocus their offer while cafes, libraries, hotels and home-offices exploded with activity. The outcome has been a workforce on the move, kept agile by cutting-edge tech, to work between offices– where and how they please. Simply put, the future workplace asks one question; what works for you?

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Having a fluid professional landscape presents a need for interim spaces to stitch one workplace to another. Enter Everyworks, a series of subscription-free workspaces to rival any coworking giant. Delivered by the national German rail organisation Deutsche Bahn, each site is equipped with shared and private workstations, café spaces and the latest tech. Most conveniently, they’re located at inter-city train stations, minutes from the platform. Burkhard R?nnefarth, Senior Project Manager Coworking, describes Everyworks’ role as “to provide companies with infrastructure to find a win-win for themselves and employees; a third space located in a transport hub supports employees’ efficiency and well-being that companies would feel satisfied by.” Currently across Germany with plans to grow, Everyworks is a solution for transport hubs looking to diversify their offer and serve a progressively mobile workforce.

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Other nimble providers are also stepping in to offer power, Wi-Fi and privacy in the most convenient and interim of locations. Combining hospitality and workspace, Serata Hall in London provides hot-desking within its beautiful restaurant, event space and distillery– making it the obvious choice for afternoon meetings. For those between destinations, Taskpod is creating workplace ‘pods’ everywhere from shopping centres to airports, proposing self-contained, bookable spaces to take calls, meetings and charge devices in 15-minute increments. Lastly, lifestyle providers are also joining the ‘in-between’ trend to serve the workday. A particular example is PT Pods; a 1-person gym that offers a range of equipment and classes that can be booked for a little as 10-minute increments, 24/7.

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Leveraging the Trend – Provocations for Property Owners

• Embrace the mobile worker. Look to your spaces that are not typically welcoming for mobile workers and assess how you may invite this audience in. This may be as simple as winged lounges for privacy in busy thoroughfares. Or for finer dining establishments, this could be a designated section or time of day that caters to the solo worker, particularly given solo-travel is on the rise.?
• Go beyond work. Other daily activities are also being fragmented. Consider how you could support your customer’s needs in micro, incremental formats, be it through service and space. Perhaps it’s a ‘minute-minding’ childcare service for short intervals of time, or mini-meditation spaces cocooned in greenery, inspired by the Citi Wealth Hub in Singapore
• Design for detail. The most memorable spaces are those that are fine-tuned to their audiences, caring for their needs in unprecedented ways. PT Pods does this by catering to women who feel uncomfortable using traditional gyms and prefer to exercise privately. The intimate scale of the space achieves this, as does the privacy screen which can but turned on and off. For your spaces, start with learning the nuances of your customers’ needs. Then look for opportunities to adapt your space with value-add features that make them feel seen and supported. Consider the dimensions of comfort, sound, light, finishes, fresh air, time and technology.?