Over the course of the next few months, Oxford Urbanists will be publishing dispatches from around the world on what feels like an unprecedented era in modern history, both for cities and the world, during — and perhaps after — the COVID-19 pandemic. We want to know how cities are responding; what lessons we can learn for the future; and how we think cities might change indefinitely.

Case Study: All cities

Once the pandemic has ended, those who can will go back to their offices.

Or will they?

As the COVID-19 crisis has forced desk-bound workers to adopt the “home-office” model, many are wondering if this new reality is the answer to workers’ increasing demands in way of flexibility, rush hour commutes and rising office prices. And if that turns out to be the case, this is a change in our lifestyles that could have immense implications for the enormous amount of space we dedicate in cities to work. So it’s worth thinking about a bit further.

Although we take it for granted, ‘The Office’ has come a long way — and not just because it had a globally popular TV show dedicated to its strange dynamics and antics. The first purpose-built office in the modern sense was the Old Admiralty Office, erected in London in 1726 to administer the amassing international responsibilities of the British Empire. [1] There was a need for a space that was optimal for carrying out desk-bound tasks.

Succeeding the Industrial Revolution, this necessity for seated-work became greater, and many buildings followed suit with a new design — the 5-story “skyscraper” designed in Liverpool by Peter Ellis in 1864. [2] The shift would cause office design to directly reflect a company’s hierarchy, where the boss was at the top and everyone else below him. By the early 1900s, the inspiration behind the interior of these buildings was clearly one inspired by factory floors. Just as a supply chain called for efficiency in spatiality and precision in specialty, these so called Taylorist offices consisted of desks where all workers would sit line by line, making it easy for supervisors to manage productivity. [3]

This artificiality of space influenced the next progression of office space in the 1960s, with the rise of the Bürolandschaft  — the Office Landscape model. This design was built around a more organic setup, which allowed for the manager to work with others and pushed for some privacy by using plants as dividers. This is, also, the time when women started joining the office workforce, although they were originally discouraged from doing so due to the “immodest” open-floor design of these spaces.

The notorious 'Cubicle Farm’ came next, where any kind of privacy was traded for efficiency. Only with the dot-com boom in the late ‘90s, as an ‘Agile and Activity Working’ method became more popular and staff more mobile, the office as we know it slowly shifted to the current model of “hot-desks,” break-out zones, and this growing prominence of natural light and comfortable furniture.[4] The 2008 financial crisis marked the latest turn we’ve seen, cementing co-working spaces by ingeniously turning the surplus of empty buildings in cities into hip, amenity-filled spaces aimed to foster collaboration and variety.

In terms of office design, the welcoming open space is reflected in the push for a homey and comfortable setting. Warm lights, snug lounge chairs, colorful wallpapers, all paired with earthly colors and plants. Interestingly enough (and maybe not coincidentally), as it became more mainstream to work from home, offices started to resemble the home, perhaps in an attempt to attract professionals to certain firms with a feeling of warmth and hospitality — and, also, to increase worker’s productivity by increasing comfort. Nothing wrong with that.

That brings us to today. Offices and co-working spaces are suddenly empty, and most of their former occupants are unsure of when they can return, let alone be comfortable to. Whilst in lockdown, the home and the office have become one unlike ever before — so much so that many employers might think: well, this kind of works. Rent is expensive, workers want flexibility, and some studies suggest an increase in productivity. Why not making home-office the new normal then?

We cannot forget, though, the modern office space was a hybrid, a bit of a gray zone, in our cities. Before the pandemic, they were becoming a place where working and socializing were nearly equal measures, which was one of the originals draws of co-working spaces. They were key social infrastructure — for those, of course, who had access. They were where things happen.

That is because, aside from comfort, people also value a variety of spaces, experiences and… people. So if we shift to a new normal, where home and office become only one word, we may lose out on that crucial part of the human experience. And that may not be something we’re willing to sacrifice so fast.

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[1] Forsdick, S. 2019. NS Business . [Online]. [21 April 2020]. Available from: https://www.ns-businesshub.com/business/history-of-office-design/

[2] Morgan lovell. 2019. Https://wwwmorganlovellcouk/. [Online]. [21 April 2020]. Available from: https://www.morganlovell.co.uk/the-evolution-of-office-design

[3] Forsdick, S. 2019. NS Business . [Online]. [21 April 2020]. Available from: https://www.ns-businesshub.com/business/history-of-office-design/

[4] Morgan lovell. 2019. Https://wwwmorganlovellcouk/. [Online]. [21 April 2020]. Available from: https://www.morganlovell.co.uk/the-evolution-of-office-design 

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Shirly Piperno is an MSt candidate in Oriental Studies at the University of Oxford. She is also co-founder of Map Mavn, an urban branding agency.