“Quiet rooms” replace the open-plan office plan

The answer, which annoyed many on-site workers, is that the workplace is often completely incapable of supporting deep work, largely because pre-pandemic open floorplans can be incredibly noisy. As it’s difficult to segment workdays in the office as purely collaborative, and Zoom meetings inevitably emerge, offices interested in welcoming employees back, at least part of the time, need to consider areas where quiet is king.

As the financial times As pointed out this week, for many workers, offices can serve as a sanctuary from the many distractions that might plague them at home, whether it’s roommates, young children, or a spouse who also takes Zoom calls when there’s only one office . But workers who live alone or have fewer distractions at home are so used to the quiet that remote work affords them that returning to the office can be a bit of a culture shock.

“Once you’ve been alone for two years, you become very sensitive to noise,” said Jeremy Myerson, professor emeritus at the Royal College of Art and co-author of Unworking, a book about the modern office FT. “What we’re hearing from HR departments is that people are overly sensitive to their surroundings.”

But that doesn’t mean the cabin’s comeback, FT Promise. Instead, employers are accommodating workers’ needs for a quiet, comfortable work environment by quickly outfitting their offices with phone booths, private rooms, and pods that can accommodate one or two people and can be checked out or reserved in advance. One such product comes from Microsoft, which recently released a new prototype for its cocoon-like Flowspace Pod, which comes complete with a monitor and plush seat. Meanwhile, WeWork has also told FT Provision of designated areas for temporary workers and private facilities for company members referred to as “rest rooms”.

So that the office is worth a trip

But all those perks go to waste if workers don’t think they’re worth the commute for. “We’re really talking about looking at the office as a goal, not an obligation,” said Elizabeth Brink, workplace expert at architects Gensler Los Angeles Times in November.

Going back to the office and connecting face-to-face with co-workers can be a great experience, Brink said, but it can also be “emotionally a lot for people — it can cause stress.”

This is where “zoom rooms” come in. Instead of shelling out foosball tables or open bars, companies are now looking more for “socially engineered” additions to offices, like mental health or wellness spaces, outdoor workspaces, nursing rooms, or prayer rooms and meditation rooms.

“It’s about employee health, employee well-being, employee productivity and business continuity,” said Joseph Allen, director of Harvard’s Healthy Buildings program and associate professor at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health assets L’Oréal Thompson Payton. “Large organizations are rethinking their approach to commercial real estate…because the C-suite has started to really pay attention to the key role buildings play in the health of their employees and their business.”

That’s no small role, Allen added. “We are an indoor species. We spend all our time in places where we work, travel, live, play, pray and heal [indoors] and it has such a massive impact on our health.”

All of this points to another defining shift in the office. Years ago cabins dominated. Then came the open floor plan, heralded as revolutionary and conducive to collaboration. But as Susan Cain points out in her bestselling book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, the open office has numerous pitfalls, like sensory overload for introverted employees and constant distraction for everyone else.

Now we turn to a hybrid option that combines the best benefits of open floor plans and cabins. Workers and office planners seem to have finally realized the value of rest space.

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