Remember office cubicles? Your own little box, a computer, a swivel chair and absolutely no need to make eye contact with anyone.
For years, we’ve been knocking down walls, removing partitions and embracing the open plan office. Collaboration! Communication! Spontaneous conversations! The sort of things that look excellent in an office brochure.
And now, apparently, Gen Z wants the cubicle back.
A recent article in Metro explored the suggestion that younger workers are beginning to appreciate the privacy and separation that traditional office cubicles once offered. The discussion follows complaints about noisy, open plan environments and the difficulty of finding somewhere to concentrate.
Whether this represents a genuine workplace revolution or simply a particularly enthusiastic Reddit discussion is another matter.
But it does raise an interesting question: have we become so preoccupied with making offices collaborative that we’ve forgotten people occasionally need to get some actual work done?
The problem with everyone being available to everyone, all the time
Open plan offices had a good run. And to be fair, they have plenty going for them.
They’re sociable, encourage collaboration and make it considerably easier to ask someone a question without having to arrange a meeting, send an email and then follow up with a Teams message asking if they’ve seen the email.
But there’s a difference between encouraging collaboration and being permanently available for it.
Sometimes you need to concentrate. Sometimes you need to take a confidential call. And sometimes you simply don’t want to know what Dave from accounts is having for lunch, or hear his entire conversation about it.
Background noise, interruptions and a lack of privacy can make certain tasks more difficult. Not every working activity benefits from an audience, and not every employee wants to spend eight hours a day in a shared space.
Perhaps the issue isn’t open plan offices. It’s the idea that one type of workspace should work for absolutely everyone.
One size doesn’t fit all (particularly when it comes to office space)
Think about a typical working day.
You might start with a catch up with colleagues, spend the next couple of hours working through a report, have a client meeting after lunch and finish the afternoon collaborating on a project.
Now imagine doing all of that from the same desk, in the same environment, with the same level of background noise.
Not ideal.
Different tasks call for different environments, and a well designed workplace should recognise that.
Sometimes you need:
- A private office: Somewhere to shut the door, concentrate and get through your to-do list without becoming an unwilling participant in everyone else’s conversations.
- A meeting room: A professional space for client meetings, presentations, interviews and team discussions. Preferably with enough chairs and a screen that works first time.
- A coworking space: Somewhere to work around other people, enjoy a change of scenery and occasionally remember that other humans exist.
- A breakout area: Somewhere to step away from your desk, have a coffee or discuss an idea without turning it into a formal meeting.
- Communal spaces: Because work doesn’t have to be entirely transactional. A friendly conversation or a familiar face can make a working day considerably better.
The point isn’t that everyone needs their own little cubicle. It’s that people should have some choice over how and where they work.
The modern office needs to do a bit more
Workplaces have changed considerably over the years. So have expectations.
Businesses aren’t simply looking for somewhere to put a few desks and connect the Wi-Fi. They want environments that support their teams, accommodate different working styles and give people a reason to come into the office in the first place.
That means thinking beyond the traditional office layout.
Privacy matters. So does collaboration. So does having somewhere comfortable to take a break, meet a client or catch up with someone who isn’t a notification on your screen.
And while office design trends will inevitably come and go, the fundamentals remain fairly straightforward: people need somewhere to focus, somewhere to connect and somewhere to feel comfortable working.
A workspace that offers a bit of everything
At FigFlex, we’re rather fond of the idea that people shouldn’t have to choose between privacy and community.
Across our portfolio, our workspaces offer a combination of private offices, coworking areas, meeting rooms and communal spaces, giving businesses and their teams different environments to suit different parts of the working day.
Need somewhere quiet to concentrate? There’s a private office. Or a phone booth.
Hosting a meeting? There’s a professional meeting room.
Fancy a change of scenery or a chat over coffee? The communal spaces are there for that, too.
And beyond the physical workspace, there’s the social side of being part of a FigFlex centre. From networking opportunities and community events to the everyday conversations that happen when people share a building, there’s more to the office experience than the four walls around your desk.
It’s about creating a working environment that gives people options, rather than expecting everyone to work in exactly the same way.
So, are cubicles making a comeback?
We’ll probably hold off on ordering several hundred grey fabric partitions just yet.
But there’s something worth taking from the conversation.
The future of office design doesn’t necessarily mean going backwards, nor does it mean filling every available square metre with an open plan desk.
It means understanding that people work differently. Sometimes they want to collaborate. Sometimes they want to concentrate. And sometimes they just want to drink their coffee without being interrupted.
The best workplaces make room for all of it.
Looking for somewhere that works a little harder for your business?
From private offices and coworking spaces to professional meeting rooms, FigFlex offers flexible workspace designed around the way modern businesses work.
