When offices reopened after COVID lockdowns, workers could finally reconnect in person after many long months of Zoom meetings and virtual happy hours. As companies eased back into office life with remote-first policies and loose attendance guidelines, the workplace took on a new role as a destination for hybrid teams to come together, share ideas, and rebuild rapport that had eroded over the extended duration of office closures.

The office-as-meeting-place made sense in 2021 when the majority of focused work still happened at home. But now that companies are mandating more days in the office, the workplace needs to be more than a collaboration hub—it needs to support the full spectrum of workplace activities.

Since the pandemic, there’s been a great deal of investment in collaboration space at the office even with rising complaints of noise and distraction, lack of privacy, and insufficient personal space. Office footprints are shrinking, but so is the relative proportion of collaborative to individual space: A recent HqO report forecasts that, by 2025, the allocation of individual to collaborative space will “flip” to 70% collaborative and 30% individual.

Collaboration is undeniably important, but too much of it can lead to burnout, lower engagement, and reduced productivity. Workers need to be able to put their heads down and work without distraction, too. This is why quality space for individual, focused work is key to getting talent back into the office by choice versus mandate.

“It’s different for every client,” says Jeff Young, Managing Principal of Perkins Eastman’s Pittsburgh Studio. “That’s why we need to understand how they work, what they want to achieve, and how their needs might change over time before we jump into programming.” Young sees the office as a dynamic and evolving ecosystem rather than a static backdrop for work. “The office has to serve a range of functions—it’s a place for learning, mentorship, and knowledge sharing—but you also need to carve out space for heads-down tasks. It’s hard to convince people to commute to the office if they feel like they can work more efficiently from home.”

Kate Scavo, an experienced Project Manager at Perkins Eastman, has observed the evolution of workplace trends over the past several years. “What it really comes down to is versatility,” says Kate. “We’re anticipating change—whether that is new hybrid policies or staffing fluctuations—and the office has to ebb and flow with those changes. Immediately after the pandemic, the office was all about collaboration. Now that we’re settling into new routines, it’s about designing flexible spaces that support individual work just as much as teamwork.”