Mix Roundtable: Should the workplace be the new members’ club?

Words and moderated by: Harry McKinley

The culture of work is changing and, so too, the spaces that facilitate it. Recent years have seen offices shift from places of pure productivity to hubs of collaboration and creativity – as we balance days at home with days together. We all recognise then that workplaces need to do more than provide desks and decent coffee if they’re to capture hearts and minds. But what if we radically reconsider the role they play and how they’re devised – treating them more like members’ clubs, where culture is key, compelling design essential and community is at the forefront? In partnership with Ege, we assembled some of the industry’s brightest talents to discuss. Here we chart five core themes around which our experts coalesced.

1. Building brand culture is the bedrock of the new workplace

With hybrid working a not-going-anywhere norm, teams are increasingly splintered for much of the week. Yes, new flexible models offer freedom and balance, but they also make it harder for businesses to establish shared values and a sense of collectivism. With all of us spending less time in the office, they have to work even harder to build brand culture.

“There’s a generational element, where younger people fresh out of university want community,” explained LOM’s Maliha Haque. “They want to be a part of something; feel part of a business and what it stands for. It’s people that make culture, but companies also need to put their money where their mouths are and create spaces that live up to their supposed ideals.”

Sparing a thought for the next generation was also a concern for Gensler’s Christopher Crawford: “We talk about younger generations not staying in companies for as long. But specifically looking at the pandemic, there’s a sense of having lost how to ‘belong’, with so much now at home or virtual. Just the simple element of having people next to you and overhearing conversations and impromptu exchanges; it builds up bonds and creates moments for learning and mentorship. That’s where the club element comes in.”

Here design plays a role, but culture is more than corporate identity. “You can’t just put a logo on a wall and expect that it will result in office culture,” said HLW’s Joanne Casselle. “It’s really about the people and creating spaces that boost interaction. But it takes wanting to bring people together and you can’t just rely on an environment to do that.”

2. Members’ clubs are great at programming, it’s time for the workplace to be too

Though often co-opted as casual working venues, members’ clubs increasingly cultivate community and appeal to users through dynamic, audience-centric programming – from artistic workshops and educational presentations to wellbeing sessions and social events. They’re activities that have traditionally sat outside the periphery of the office, but for our table, ‘siloing’ play and productivity is a mistake.

“We have quiz nights and makers’ markets,” described ID:SR’s Danielle Marshall. “Our space is designed to allow for that; it’s a hub for the people who work there, but not only to sit at a desk and work.”

“There used to be the idea that you had to be in the office,” continued Crawford. “Now it’s about appealing to people’s FOMO and curating events that people actually want to join. If there isn’t the same necessity to be there, activities that the team don’t want to miss are a draw. We’ve had a bucking bronco and drag bingo, for example. Of course, this is where flexibility of design matters. We have a welcome space on the ground floor – also our tea point – that allows us to bring people in and host different types of events.”

3. Offices are competing with hospitality and need to rise to the challenge

“Our workplace reflects our culture,” explained Marriott International’s Despina Kalapoda. “We have arrival spaces and community spaces that feel a little like a hotel lobby or a hotel bar and we’ve mastered the art of making them inviting – for us as well as guests. But broadly, sometimes hospitality simply works better and serves people’s needs more effectively, for the way we work today. A members’ club, a café, a hotel lobby; they offer environments for relaxed, informal meetings in a way that sometimes isn’t addressed in the traditional workplace setup.”

For TOG’s Claire McPoland is comes down to choice, something she sees as central to TOG’s offer: “I’m fortunate in that in that I have multiple buildings to choose from. Some have great cafes where a team can meet over lunch, others beautiful views with great light. What people often enjoy about hospitality is the variety and the ability to choose a setting that works for that moment.”

“Plus there’s an element of being with and around people in a way that feels casual, and even spontaneous,” said AECOM’s Atepheh Amid. “It isn’t just about comfort. But workplaces can introduce those moments of unexpected interaction through clever design. At our office, we have a staircase connecting floors that is fantastic, because you’re constantly meeting people from other teams and starting conversations. There’s a central café where people naturally filter through to buy coffee or food – again, it’s being with people in a way that is spontaneous.”

On the aesthetic front also, there’s consensus that, conventionally, workplace design simply hasn’t embodied the same personality and originality as hospitality. That needs to change if users are going to choose the office over other environments.

“We’re seeing a lot more design and a lot more individuality in interiors choices,” Ege’s Suzanne Campbell emphasised. “In our own collections we’ve evolved so that designers can be more creative and tell a story through flooring as well, with much bolder designs coming through. There’s no doubt the workplace sector is getting more exciting and hospitality is inspiring that.”

4. Members’ clubs are often tribal, workplaces shouldn’t follow suit

Members’ clubs are, by nature, exclusive. And though workplaces are usually the preserve of a company’s employees, our experts agreed that their concept development and design shouldn’t be viewed through too narrow a lens.

“Members’ clubs individually try to appeal to particular audiences and particular sets of people. That just doesn’t work for the office,” said Cassell. “It has to be based on diversity and inclusion.”

“We can all agree that one thing cannot be designed for everyone,” followed Kalapoda, striking a nuanced tone. “But when companies and brands aim to attract talent and an audience, they aim for those who will fit a certain culture. So we can say there’s already some filtering. Good design has to be, to a degree, targeted, but within that inclusivity is still the goal.”

As Marshall reflected, companies are also not generally monoliths: “A business cannot function if everyone is the person using the ping pong table. From payroll to HR, there are lots of types of people that keep an organisation running and an office has to work for them as well.”

It’s here that designers have a duty. “Members’ clubs are designed for particular groups and workplaces just can’t be. But that doesn’t mean we need to end up with beige spaces,” opined Haque. “Yes, as designers it’s really hard to find a balance between making a space aspirational and making sure everyone is included, but that’s our responsibility.”

As Campbell stressed, it comes back to choice: “There are areas where product and material selection might create a more subdued design and others where it can be energising and bold. Those two things can coexist in one project, meaning that diverse design can actually be used to reflect diversities in people.”

5. Aspirational spaces are great, but people want to work

“We look at how workplaces are becoming more and more inspired by hospitality and assume teams now expect the service model that goes with,” said Crawford. “But we’ve just completed a UK survey and found that, actually, the pendulum is swinging back and among the top priorities for the workplace are now spaces for focus and access to technology. We all say we’re moving towards the office as a place to collaborate and socialise, but the desk with the ergonomic chair and second screen is still a kind of base that people want – an anchor system.”

Agreeing, Amid notes the need to balance collaboration and focus spaces: “We need spaces that are acoustically isolated, because if the office is only about areas for being collaborative and social, then others can’t do focused work without always being disrupted.”

The key then, for our table, is in creating environments that offer flexibility; informed by listening to what people actually want, versus what designers and companies think they want.

“Whether it’s based on a members’ club or a more traditional office model, it matters that the building has a purpose, that its purpose makes sense for the tasks that need to happen there and that people are able to do what they need when they are there,” explained McPoland. “Although it shouldn’t mean compromising on choice.”