Charlie Green
What is the biggest trend affecting workspace that architects need to think about?
The single biggest shift in the last couple of years in workspace is the emergence of co-working. This is not in the traditional sense of lots of individuals from consultants to freelancers all working in an open plan office. It’s much more advanced than that and is affecting the way we are all working. Co-working is a fundamental behavioural shift for everyone, driven by the need to react to technology changes. As we work differently, our work environment has to anticipate and respond to those changes. It’s about sharing space, whether with people from the same company or from different businesses. It’s about sharing facilities and creating a more interesting, considered space. So the architect’s challenge is to understand the psychology of sharing and how the space can respond to that, to interpret how the space can flow and foster collaboration, without forcing it. At its essence, it is about creating choice as to how we all can work dependent on the different space we need to carry out tasks. And to be different and stand out from an ever-increasing crowd.
Charlie co-founded the The Office Group in 2003 with Olly Olsen and backing from Lloyd Dorfman, founder of Travelex Group. The Office Group pioneered shared workspace in the UK. We completed an office refurbishment for the group at Greville Street in Farringdon and took part in a limited competition for a scheme at Rivington Street, Shoreditch.
Charlie Green, joint founder and Co-Chief Executive, The Office Group