The work landscape is evolving at an unprecedented pace, driven by a hybrid work environment. As businesses worldwide adapt to a more flexible, decentralized approach, the ability to connect, communicate, and collaborate from anywhere is driving remote technologies and changing the traditional office environment.
In this piece, ATP collaborates with Brandon Van Orden, who is the SVP, Chief Information Officer at Cousins Properties. Cousins is a commercial office REIT that develops, owns, and manages a 20 million square foot trophy office portfolio in the high-growth Sun Belt markets of Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Dallas, Nashville, Tampa, and Phoenix. Van Orden is responsible for Cousins’ technical vision and all aspects of the Information Technology organization.
He helps us explore how innovative renovation and technology solutions reshape productivity, enhance office spaces, and foster collaboration in a new professional-empowering era.
The Initial Transformation of Conference Rooms Post-Pandemic
Coming out of the pandemic the thought was there would be a shift from shared conference rooms to smaller Zoom and Team’s rooms. The thinking behind this was that social distancing was the new norm so companies would not leverage large conference spaces and employees would prefer smaller personal type rooms to join into video conferencing.
In an interview, Van Orden discusses the shift from large conference rooms to smaller, more versatile Zoom and Team’s rooms. He mentions the transition to individual or small group (three to four-person) Zoom rooms or team rooms with all-in-one systems, initially provided as amenities, quickly faced legal and security issues as a shared amenity, which led to their obsolescence.
He also shared that users actually preferred to be at their own desks speaking directly into the camera as remote participants felt left out in a video conference call with multiple people in the same room while local room conversations still dominated the meetings. The initial concept of smaller Zoom and Team’s rooms started falling apart, and the focus shifted back to individual customer office spaces for small virtual meetings and back to amenity spaces for the large conference room needs.
Van Orden states,
What quickly became an issue with shared amenity based all in one Zoom or Team’s rooms was the legal aspect of it. As owners, we were not going to share our Teams or Zoom license with our customers. There were legal issues, with concerns around the possibility of owners being blamed if hackers got into meetings using our license, so we quickly changed course on that.
Overall, he points out that times are continuing to change, and offices are designed based on the entire business and individual needs. While there are challenges, companies are working through them. It’s a trial-by-error situation.
Balancing Open Floor Plans and Private Workspaces
A challenge many offices face is finding a happy balance between an open floor plan and private, quiet spaces for focused work. Both office designs are conducive to different types of work, allowing everyone to have a space for their needs. Ultimately, the goal is to get more employees back in person, so tweaking the floor plan design might be necessary.
Employees share thoughts and needs about open and private spaces in the office. Van Orden gives a few examples that he has experienced with his tenant customers:
Coming out of the pandemic people thought open floor plans were dead. Everyone wanted their own space, and no one wanted to breathe near each other, so there were thoughts that people would never want to share a desk again. We had customers contemplating ripping the entire office apart to rebuild it as more segregated office space. We, as owners, were talking about technology that could facilitate a touchless experience everywhere in the buildings. We eventually decided the pendulum was going to swing back after the pandemic and we needed to hold off on drastic renovations until we reached the “new normal”. We are glad we did since as you see today; things are getting back to more of the social norms we had prior to the pandemic.
But there are still many employees that say they will return to the office but need quiet space. What they had at home was the ability to buckle down for two or three hours and get work done instead of being in open office environments where you can be constantly interrupted by others. Employees want to avoid being tethered to a desk now; they want to be able to take their computer and walk outside to a great amenity space to work from there, or in an amenity breakroom or café area.
An article in Office Finder provides examples of how offices embrace a hybrid workspace. It’s out with formal meeting rooms and in with a unique collection of hybrid workspaces. These examples include, but are not limited to, flexible workstations, collaboration areas, and quiet zones, among other areas.
The initial belief that open floor plans would disappear completely post-pandemic has changed. While the need for private, quiet spaces has increased, the desire for flexibility and mobility within the office remains strong. Modern office designs blend open areas, private rooms, and versatile spaces to cater to these changing needs.
New Office Amenities to Attract Employees
Since the pandemic, there has been a renewed focus on creating large conference rooms and social spaces in office buildings to foster in-person collaboration and interaction among employees. In 2024, businesses are trying to figure out exactly how to get employees back in the building when they still offer a remote option.
Some businesses have figured this out and are using new renovations with new amenities and technology to entice employees back to the workplace. These can be collaborative spaces and places where people can destress or have fun.
Van Orden shares his example:
Our customers are looking for high quality amenities, lifestyle trophy office space in the best urban locations to entice their employees to come into the office. We are renovating some of our building portfolio to add these amenities if they don’t already have it. The renovation build-outs include things like in-building restaurants, common area entertainment sections, café working areas, golf simulators, outdoor spaces, landscaped walking areas, putting greens, pool tables, etc.
Large conference rooms have also come back to a large degree. In some instances, our customers built the smaller collaboration spaces on their floors, but want a 100-person capacity room in the common building area. So, we have been building these out with top-of-the-line AV equipment, along with preconference spaces with sitting areas, cable tv, messaging boards and kitchenettes for catering services. These rooms are booked by our customers frequently and I think they’re using it to get everyone together more often when they are in the office for culture building activities.
He emphasizes that companies are asking for unique spaces promoting in-person culture and moving away from remote-only setups. Van Orden details the trend of renovating offices to include high-end amenities to attract employees to physical workspaces, which also increases the technology demands in office buildings.
With these renovations and amenity spaces, it’s increasing the amount of technology we have in our base building amenities. We have renovated a lot of gyms that are now mostly internet-based equipment, window tinting systems, advanced AV conference rooms, advanced lobby audio systems to listen to various tv or music offerings, golf simulators, digital messaging systems, mobile device access, advanced security systems, visitor management systems, elevator systems, etc. It all adds to the higher end amenity experience our customers are looking for these days.
As workers seek more autonomy and flexibility, integrating advanced features will create a modern, adaptable workspace that enhances productivity and employee satisfaction.
Conclusion
The future of work is defined by a shift towards more flexible, secure, and technology-driven office environments that support a hybrid work force. Integrating advanced tools and thoughtfully designed spaces is key to promoting productivity and employee engagement as businesses adapt to new demands. This transformation emphasizes the importance of balancing innovation with security, ultimately shaping a workplace that meets the evolving needs of modern professionals.