Balancing Act: Retrofitting Office Design to Enrich Communities

The office workplace has shifted tremendously in the last decade. The world is adapting quickly to new technology and culture changes, but office buildings seem to be stuck in the past. COVID-19 has brought the world to a stand still and moved the way to do business to our homes. This shift has taught the workforce that most work can be done as efficiently at home than in the office. This leads to existing office buildings becoming rapidly vacant due to the lack of consistent occupancy throughout the work week. Where does that leave the future of the existing office buildings? Are we going to keep them empty to be seen as an urban graveyard, or demolish them to create flat, empty lots? There is a more efficient option. In order to spark the flame back into office buildings, there needs to be a change in the existing program to accommodate different needs of the area. To reshape the old and bring office structures to life, the design topic of my thesis consists of opening spaces up to create new experiences for people to use. This solution removes existing floor plates in order to open up spaces for new opportunities and programs. By adding new programs like residential and retail into the structures, it invites people into the buildings to use the spaces for longer periods of time. My final design topic is applied to the idea of opening up the spaces, and experimenting with ways of connecting the towers. The connections are applied to the surrounding landscape to incentivize entering the structures. The pathways flowing through the structures bring a sense of community instead of isolating each building. A strong sense of community is the foundation for how people work together and inspire to enrich their lives for growth.