Office Buildings 2.0

The office space, as we know it, is changing, slowly but surely. The way we do business will have a strong impact on the designs and uses of office space. The tools we are using?today?are different from the ones we were using 5 years ago, and very different from the ones used less than 20 years ago.?Work from home, coworking spaces and online meetings are facts today, together with paperless day-to-day activities. This can be easily translated into less needed area per employee.

During the covid pandemic, companies continued to work with their employees connecting remotely to the office or the cloud applications.?Today, offices are becoming more than just a place to do work, they are the place where you build the company culture and share it. Areas dedicated for coworking, and meetings are substituting more of the traditional office space. Connectivity to the company's legacy systems, communication and Internet is almost totally through high speed and secured Wi-Fi networks. Employee can sit anywhere, and Internet of Things will do the rest. This is the end of the old office space story and the beginning of a new one. With smaller desks, chairs and limited storage needs; more people will be using the same area which will mean more elevators, wider stairs and fire escape exits, pantries and leisure areas. Occupiers will be moving to newer and better-equipped office space and the current property owners will have a serious challenge trying to cope with the change.

Soon, companies will mainly rent in office buildings applying Green and Sustainable practices and zero emissions buildings will be their following stop. The move to the new generation of office space will not happen overnight. It represents a new opportunity for investing in remodelling the current office space stock in the different markets. The change will require significant investment to turn the current buildings to Green and Sustainable buildings as all the "Responsible" companies are expected to be operating from Green Buildings within the next 10 years. That will include companies from all sizes, locals and Multinationals. Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Cairo and Qatar already started to invest in these areas and Saudi is coming quickly to join the path.

Offices 2.0 are coming soon, it's time to prepare for the upgrade!!