Repurposing the Workplace: New Uses for Office Space that Brings Community Back into the City

Case Study: a new prototype for the reuse of large floorplate office space in the heart of downtown San Francisco.

The Covid pandemic has brought about a huge upheaval in how we think about the workplace. Around the world, companies need to rethink what is the new normal. HOK,  as a collective of designers who work on a range of projects from interiors to architecture and urban design, have found that what companies desire is not just figuring how hybrid work changes how they think about their workplace. What they see now is an opportunity to redefine or strengthen their culture and build a new type of community with their clients and employees. Technology and the pandemic has freed many companies from thinking of the office as just a place to sit at a desk for 8 hours a day. It has also forced cities to rethink the large empty offices that sit unused in the heart of downtown urban centers and how they can be reappropriated to create a more inclusive and thriving community.