The rise of co-working spaces has seen a new energy inserted into the office marketplace, with the likes of WeWork engendering a degree of experimentation in workplace design that has seldom been seen before.

A new report by architecture firm WATG explores this new breed of 21st century workplaces, which the authors believe are drawing inspiration from the hospitality world.  These workplaces focus on things such as community and wellbeing rather than just productivity.

The report outlines a number of key trends in the sector:

• Workspace as a service – The modern workspace has not only corporate tenants but a range of other service providers, including sports facilities, art galleries and other amenities to support workers.
• Workspace as an experience – The latest workspaces are designed to make them visually appealing, with Activity Based Working (ABW) designed to help employees stay active together.
• Workspace wellness – Wellness has long been an issue for employers, and workspaces increasingly reflect this.  Gyms are commonplace, but many workspaces have gone beyond that to support mental wellbeing as well as physical.
• The freelance generation – It’s estimated that there are 1.2 million coworkers registered around the world, with shared workspaces heavily in demand.
• Merging of office and hotel – Coworking spaces are drawing on the best aspects of modern hotel lobbies.  It’s akin to a members’ lounge more than a traditional office.
• Co-living spaces – This trend is increasingly be taken to the next stage, with facilities such as Zoku Lofts in Amsterdam providing a contained living space that doubles as office space.  It’s described as a hybrid between home and office, with hotel style amenities.
• Revenue around the clock – This trend makes commercial sense because hotels typically earn revenue during the evenings and overnight, whilst coworking offers the opportunity to monetize the quieter daytime period. 

“There is a constant need for evolution and innovation in the world of development, and this continues to be driven by hospitality, as well as technology. From the perspective of the developer, more creative office concepts offer intriguing propositions. Coworking, in particular, offers potential for an efficient business model, and heightened returns on investment. From a design perspective, the opportunity to deconstruct traditional office space and hotel public areas, and create environments that work for the developer, operator and end-user is ripe. The way that we work, travel and play is changing,” the authors say.