The generational shift in workspace environments is being fueled in part by the “flattening of corporate hierarchy,” says Scoutmob founder Michael Tavani, who is underway with Switchyards, a Downtown Atlanta startup office hub. Climbing the corporate ladder isn't something Millennials care to do, Michael says. Instead members of the largest generation since the Baby Boomers are more looking to align their work lives with their personal lives. “The savvy companies are recognizing that the new cachet and the new important thing is brand loyalty,” he says.
Michael was among our creative space experts on tap at our Atlanta Office event earlier this week, including Vantage Realty Partners' Gene Rice, Atlanta Tech Village's Karen Houghton, Cooper Carry's Kim Rousseau and Jamestown Properties' Jim Irwin. Creative office space has become a player in the office world because of Millennials, Jim says. “When your competition is not other offices but the ability to just work from your laptop and your pajamas, it's forced employers to provide something of value-add in the office,” he says. “If [office space] was just average, you may as well have worked from home.”
That's also changed the nature of how office is designed: vertical isn't as important anymore as horizontal, Kim says. Modern creative office workers like to spread out and interconnect with each other on the same floor, not be separated by office suites and floors in an office tower. Location is critical, Jim says, adding that a creative office environment must “respect” the surrounding area. “A Ponce next to Alliance [Center] wouldn't work. But you build what wants to be there, and connect it in an interesting and surprising way,” he says.
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