DIGITAL & STRATEGIC
UX DESIGN PRACTICE
STRATEGIC DESIGN
Six Spatial Typologies to Recalibrate Work, Life and Place in a Post Pandemic World
Catalysing social innovation into a place-making strategy
Design a strategic placemaking framework for IPUT Real Estate to redefine their workplace buildings after Covid 19 marked a turning point in the nature of office work.
Date
Location
An array of spatial typologies to recalibrate work, life, and place around people’s shifted needs and behaviours. Backed by academic research, expert workshops and quantitative surveys to end users, the strategy aims to trigger collaboration between stakeholders to build better places for communities.
Through this research and strategic design piece, IPUT have been able to start the debate with their key stakeholders on how offices can maintain their important economic and social functions while at the same time contributing to making our cities more enriching and sustainable places. The insights have informed the company’s long term investment strategy.
"We hope that this report can be the start of open and collaborative discussions between the many stakeholders in our cities to make the transition to better office districts, that are also better communities."
NIALL GAFFNEY,
CHIEF EXECUTIVE,
IPUT REAL ESTATE DUBLIN
After Covid 19 marked a turning point in the nature of office work and changed mindsets about the need to work full time in offices and expectations about the flexibility that technology brings to the way we work.
Arup was commissioned by IPUT Real Estate company to explore the future of placemaking in relation to the building of commercial properties. The project was defined in Spring 2020, which created a unique lens through which to consider the relationship between work, life, and place.
The strategic design process was informed by extensive secondary research, drawing on articles and academic papers, and by primary research in the form of in-depth interviews with industry experts such as Jan Gehl and Lisette van Doorn, and a quantitative survey of 2,000 UK-based employees.
Arup’s approach addressed the need of going beyond the binary, giving people a toolkit that offers more possibilities than the two choices of working from home or from the office.
The report coins the term “workplacemaking” and describes six key spatial typologies which describe how the new working and living needs of different types of users can be met by space.