Paradigm shift in tenant planning: From landlord to coach

Just recently, in April 2017, the F.A.Z. discussed that the real estate industry was now alarmed — the many years in which vacant offices were considered a problem were clearly over: companies would “find new offices with difficulty.” This scarcity of space is accompanied by a change in companies' expectations of (their) workspaces. On the one hand, the lack of space requires a more careful use of space as a resource: “anything goes” is no longer simply possible, and an almost wasteful use of square meters in loft-like areas of old commercial buildings is no longer a cheap rentable option. On the other hand, employees today are known to place different demands on their jobs than in the past. Concepts such as “flexible working”, “mobile workplaces” or “new working” are having an ever greater influence on employer choices.

Another reason for the scarcity of space is the search by companies for special spaces, namely those that are attractive for highly specialized specialists, which are also becoming scarcer. They have recognized that an attractive working environment can become a competitive advantage. Innovative companies such as Google or Apple have shown the way and set standards. They have created places that inspire their employees; where they can work flexibly and according to their individual requirements. They have professionalized the approach that “grassroots” coworking spaces such as the betahaus in Berlin have created and expanded with simple means: creating and designing places of random or intentional encounter, where you can network and work together, where you can exchange ideas and innovations together. Real collaboration is the new working mode here: The idea, the feeling that a good result can only be achieved through the continuous collaboration of many.

Internationally renowned thought leader Jeremy Rifkin, advisor to numerous governments and chairman of the Foundation of Economic Trends in Washington, argues that by the middle of the 21st century, “the metarmorphosis from industrial to collaborative revolution” will be completed, thus ushering in a major “turning point in human history.” In this “future of the economy,” traditional forms of work will be transformed in the context of high-tech innovations and tomorrow's “workers” will produce results in decentralized, collaborative structures, characterized by the idea of continuous cooperation and digital interaction. Long-established companies are already being challenged by young, innovative companies that are already working enormously collaboratively. A structural rethink is taking place, in which a more democratic, broad-based form of corporate culture is no longer the hierarchical corporate pyramid.

How will companies design their working environments in the future?

The development described is reflected not only in a changed interior design, but above all in the rental process, which should result in the desired, communicative and collaborative working environment. Since there are no standard catalogues for these project-specific results, the role of the landlord could also fundamentally change.

REALACE has been supporting the Ullsteinhaus project in Berlin-Tempelhof since autumn 2015. The heterogeneous area, which consists of the old, listed Ullstein Verlag printing house and newer extensions, is conveniently located, but not centrally located. The location was therefore not suitable as a selling point. In order to successfully revitalize the location in the longer term, it was repositioned as a campus for technology and media companies based on the guiding idea of depicting the future of work.

In other words, a target group whose corporate culture and forms of work correspond to the developments and attributes described. In their speech over the past two years, the REALACE team has repeatedly found that companies themselves usually have no concrete idea of the interior design when purchasing new space. Although they understand that spaces are more than just surface, color, walls and usage parameters, they do not know how to think and “shape” the spaces in order to adequately represent their work processes. Classic sample catalogues do not lead to the desired result (and especially not to the rental agreement).

This gives the landlord the opportunity to make his expertise available to the potential tenant and to develop individual working environments together with him. He is more likely to take on the role of an expert, a coach for his tenants. In doing so, he must take into account the specific wishes of tenants as well as the suitability of the space to be used by third parties.

For this purpose, we have a multi-level, collaborative (!) A consulting process developed in which potential tenants are involved in the development of their individual work environments.

It starts with a comparison with the tenant's wishes and functional requirements. What images do they have in their heads? How exactly do your employees work? What is the right level of collaboration and retreat space? How and where do meetings take place? What types of “social” meetings and informal exchanges should there be? Is the soccer ball really the best place to create innovative ideas? —The results form the basis for the development of spatial prototypes, from which the individual working environment is created, which is implemented efficiently. In this way, the office not only becomes a productivity-promoting workplace, but also an identity-creating development space.

One of the first tenants with whom we went down this path together is Hella Aglaia Mobile Vision GmbH, a company for innovative development of lighting and electronics in the automotive sector. Through close cooperation between landlord and tenant, an individually adapted working environment was created. In mid-July 2017, the company moved into 9,000 square meters in the Ullsteinhaus.