Community offices
A JLL survey of 1,300 20-25 year olds in May 2020 following the Coronavirus lock down found:
- A dramatic shift in staff appetite for home working.
- An increase in numbers wanting to move home to acquire more private space for home working with faster broadband.
It appears that the appeal of home working is primarily influenced by wasted downtime and the inconvenience of commuting. Pre COVID-19, 2% of the population worked 3-4 days a week from home. Post COVID-19 (although still in the eye of the storm) 24% of respondents expressed a wish to work 3-4 days from home.
From a manager’s viewpoint, conventional offices will always be required for collaborative and creative activity as well as corporate cohesion. There are however compelling adverse environmental and health issues in relation to public and private transport, and there is accumulating evidence demonstrating to employers that home working is as productive as office working, with improved cognitive performance and better sleep patterns. In addition, one of the reasons given by those wanting to escape urban living, other than the affordability of house and garden space, is a greater sense of community living.
However, for all its advantages, home working also has its distractions. Productivity can be disturbed by family and domestic issues, and separation between work and social life is generally considered desirable. In addition, many houses simply do not have a space for a dedicated office.
As a result, there is an opportunity to provide small, intimate, local workspaces a stone’s throw away from residences in a form that is a cross between an community facility and a serviced office.
Facilities such as sports clubs, town and village halls often struggle to generate income when they are not being used for their primary activity, which can be as much as three quarters of the time. Changing work patterns may offer an opportunity to provide local communal office hubs available during working hours to people nearby who may otherwise be working from home.
Services might include:
- Office style desk spaces.
- A ‘lounge’ area.
- Fast internet service
- Catering facilities or services.
- Parking.
- Private meeting rooms.
- Photocopying and printing.
Cost considerations for establishing such facilities might include; utilities and internet provision, catering and cleaning services, access and security services, layout changes, furnishings and so on.
Charges could be set by studying local serviced office facilities and might include:
- Basic membership per month.
- Workstation hire per day.
- Meeting room hire per hour.
- Food and beverage provision.
- Photocopying and printing charges.
The resulting shift in working patterns could not only improve work/life balance and re-invigorate community facilities, it could relieve congestion in our cities and on our transport network and reduce the resulting carbon emissions.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
- Change of use class.
- Defining the office.
- London office construction continues to rise.
- Office definition.
- Office manual.
- Office.
- Post Occupancy Evaluation: operational performance of a refurbished office building.
- The Biophilic Office.
- Types of building.
- Use class.
- Wellbeing and creativity in workplace design - case studies.
- Workplace definition.
- Workplaces of the future.
Featured articles and news
Mixed reactions to apprenticeship and skills reform 2025
A 'welcome shift' for some and a 'backwards step' for others.
Licensing construction in the UK
As the latest report and proposal to licence builders reaches Parliament.
Building Safety Alliance golden thread guidance
Extensive excel checklist of information with guidance document freely accessible.
Fair Payment Code and other payment initiatives
For fair and late payments, need to work together to add value.
Pre-planning delivery programmes and delay penalties
Proposed for housebuilders in government reform: Speeding Up Build Out.
High street health: converting a building for healthcare uses
The benefits of health centres acting as new anchor sites in the high street.
The Remarkable Pinwill Sisters: from ‘lady woodcarvers’ to professionals. Book review.
Skills gap and investment returns on apprenticeships
ECA welcomes new reports from JTL Training and The Electrotechnical Skills Partnership.
Committee report criticises UK retrofit schemes
CIOB responds to UK’s Energy Security and Net Zero Committee report.
Design and construction industry podcasts
Professional development, practice, the pandemic, platforms and podcasts. Have we missed anything?
C20 Society; Buildings at Risk List 2025
10 more buildings published with updates on the past decade of buildings featured.
Boiler Upgrade Scheme and certifications consultation
Summary of government consultation, closing 11 June 2025.
Deputy editor of AT, Tim Fraser, discusses the newly formed society with its current chair, Chris Halligan MCIAT.
Barratt Lo-E passivhaus standard homes planned enmasse
With an initial 728 Lo-E homes across two sites and many more planned for the future.
Government urged to uphold Warm Homes commitment
ECA and industry bodies write to Government concerning its 13.2 billion Warm Homes manifesto commitment.
From project managers to rising stars, sustainability pioneers and more.
Places of Worship in Britain and Ireland, 1929-1990. Book review.