Workplace 2030 – a not-for-profit initiative to reimagine the office, has now opened to the public the world’s first epidemiologically-guided “office of the future” prototype in San Francisco, CA. The prototype office is an interactive learning center where workplace leaders can experience first-hand the latest workplace designs, technologies and collaborations for workplace health, security, confidence and comfort in one real-world space. The “office of the future” prototype is live in San Francisco through March 2021; New York and Chicago locales are planned.
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Over 50 of Bay Area’s largest employers have toured the prototype workplace in the last 2 months to experience the innovative concepts and technology, and now the space is available to any company for complimentary in-person (when permissible by local health guidelines) and virtual tours.
Under the leadership of Founder, Executive Director Brandon Cook and oversight of leading infectious disease epidemiologist Dr. Maureen Miller, PhD, Columbia University, Workplace 2030 aims to help protect the health of workers and drive economic recovery by enabling businesses to make informed and confident decisions on both when and how to reopen their offices. Workplace 2030 assembled a panel of ten leading workplace design and workplace technology experts to advise the initiative.
“Security, HR, and Facilities leaders are tasked with reopening their company’s offices, yet no one has ever faced the current situation” said Cook. “By working hand-in-hand with an epidemiologist and experts, we will help clarify, from a scientific and prescriptive perspective, when and how to reopen – so as the vaccine becomes available and when infection rates decline, we can do so sooner and more safely than ever before.”
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There are two tectonic shifts in how work is done today. First, all organizations must proactively protect employees against viral disease transmission for an indeterminate amount of time, likely well after a COVID-19 vaccine is available. Second, the majority of workplaces are permanently moving to a hybrid of remote and in-office work.
In four months and relying on over one million dollars worth of donated goods and services, Workplace 2030 successfully built a functioning “office of the future” designed to demonstrate solutions to these unprecedented challenges. The prototype serves as an educational resource available at no cost for workplace leaders evaluating how to deploy the latest technology and design to affordably upgrade their existing workplaces for enhanced safety and collaboration. The Workplace 2030 initiative also includes an online resource center with epidemiologically-reviewed academic data sources and original content from expert advisors.
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