A future workplace prototype, designed to help organizations understand employees’ changing needs and attract them back to the office, is on display in downtown Toronto until April 29.
WorkBetterLab Toronto, at 150 King St. East, is a collaboration between Steelcase and POI Business Interiors who are leaders in office research, furniture solutions, culture and wellbeing.
The lab is made of diverse settings designed to address all modes of work — social, collaborative, personal and learning. Visitors will have the opportunity to explore innovative solutions that offer people greater control, comfort and privacy — what, according to a recent Steelcase global study, they value in the office most now.
“Organizations can’t bring people back to the same workplace they left,” said Gale Moutrey, vice president of innovation for Steelcase. “Hybrid work is different and the WorkBetterLab is an inspiring example of the future hybrid office where people can do their best work – both together and when working alone.”
New Steelcase research, which surveyed nearly 5,000 office workers across 11 countries, found 87 per cent of people globally will be spending some time in the office moving forward. Yet, 62 per cent of Canadians prefer to work from home (globally this number is only 45 per cent), suggesting Canadian offices are not living up to employee expectations and organizations would be wise in updating them to retain and engage workers.
“Despite what you may be hearing in the media, offices cannot just be a destination for collaboration,” said Moutrey. “People will need spaces where they can do individual work as well. You can’t expect people to make the commute and not give them access to privacy.”
The WorkBetterLab showcases new ways to support focus work as well as hybrid collaboration. The highly-flexible space gives people a lot of choice and control over where and how they work.
“We’ve all read a lot about return to the office and new employee expectations over the past two years, but now, WorkBetterLab Toronto shows guests what work could actually look and feel like,” said Jonas Scholl, CEO of POI, Canada’s largest contract furniture and service provider . “It’s an interactive experience that inspires both employers and employees to think about how we can work better coming out of the pandemic.”
WorkBetterLab Toronto is open by appointment only. Interested parties can request an appointment by completing the form located on the WorkBetterLab website. The Toronto experience is one of four pop-ups in Canada and 12 in the United States touring throughout 2022.
WorkBetterLab Toronto is a collaborative effort between Steelcase and POI Business Interiors, its exclusive furniture provider, as well as partners in workplace solutions including Blu Dot, Bolia, Carl Hansen & Sons, Established & Sons, Extremis, FLOS, Logitech, M.A.D., Mattiazzi, Microsoft, Mitchell Gold & Bob Williams, Moooi, Tom Dixon and West Elm. The space was outfitted by plants from Ambius Biophilia.
