Steve Watts
Partner
alinea Consulting, London

Michael Dobler
Senior Vice President Global Account Management
Schindler, Lucerne

Mehdi Jalayerian
Senior Managing Director
Environmental Systems Design, Inc., Chicago

Katrina Kostic Samen
Director, Head of Workplace Strategy & Design
KKS Savills,

Michael Wiseman
Head of Office Leasing
British Land Company PLC, London

Flexible office spaces with access to fresh air, sunlight, and green space have been the dominating trend for the past few years as offices have realized anew the importance of prioritizing wellness for their employees, which means recognizing different working styles as well as supporting the need for social and casual interactions. However, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for high ventilation standards and flexibility of use for different spaces have become not just important, but essential, as workplace wellness extends to the preservation of global public health, and its likely that the landscape of the office building has been changed forever. This session explores how, with the increase in telecommuting, some of it likely to continue even as people return to the offices, the use of office space will likely need to be more intentional and adaptable then ever before, and how public health measures will be incorporated into new builds, and retroactively applied to existing ones.