As organizations are rethinking their approach to office hours and usage of office space, real estate players are thinking about incorporating the new work style into office design itself. Let us take a look at these upcoming futuristic changes materializing in the international real estate scene that can influence office design in India.

1. Having a dedicated space for pre-screening
When the lockdown was newly lifted, office managers had to quickly secure some random corner in the office as a space for screening employees and visitors.

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Now, the new offices will have dedicated space to take care of the SOP for everyone’s safety. This will require larger office spaces and better planning of space.

2. Investment in better air quality
Think of large scale air purifiers or even airlocks to control air as it enters into the office premises and treat it before circulation through infiltration and exfiltration.

3. Cameras for detecting temperature
Futuristic design for offices will put camera infrastructure (presently limited to CCTV) to dual use. These might be used for detecting abnormalities like temperature fluctuations too as part of pre-screening for those entering the office premises.

This will call for a lot of thought to be invested in the tech infrastructure put in place for offices.

4. Integrating open, green spaces within office premises
Open, green spaces are any day better than closed, centrally air-conditioned spaces because of better and fresher air quality. Offices will need to be well-equipped in terms of space to incorporate open spaces where people can go for a walk when they feel like. They might even want to hold standing meetings outdoors!

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5. Designing entrances and elevators to manage traffic
It is very likely that office spaces will have designated entrances for employees, visitors and essential workers involved in maintenance of the premises. The number of entrances is likely to increase to take into consideration the need for social distancing in elevators.

Employees sitting in designated areas might be asked to enter and exit from a specific entrance only in order to avoid too much contact among people and minimize spreading of viruses.

Office designers will need to plan for multiple entrances and exit points. More points of entry and exit will need more elevators that will take employees to their area of work. It requires massive planning of space and traffic movement.

The idea of working space is changing faster than the idea of home spaces. The focus of a futuristic office is better health of employees. For better health of employees, we need the ecosystem of office premises to enable good healthcare, preventive measures, better screening of all those present in the office premises. How many of these changes do you see happening in your office premises?