We Value Being Boutique

Office design is going through upheaval to meet post-covid demands, says Cynthia Chan, regional managing director, north asia, of interior design company space matrix.

- Stephen Crowe

NAME : Cynthia Chan

COMPANY : Space Matrix

POSITION : Regional Managing Director, North Asia

LOCATION : Shanghai, China

The office as we knew it is dead. After COVID-19 disrupted the operations of nearly every business, many traditional office environments are no longer fit for purpose and require remodelling to align with post-pandemic benchmarks. Hot-desking and dense desk arrangements are out, while open-plan layouts and virtual meeting options are the way forward for social distancing and personal safety.

For an interior design company like Space Matrix, the pandemic has been both disruptive and liberating. The company surveyed about 1,000 of its clients to learn what they missed most about their workplaces and their concerns about returning to them. It then devised a Workplace Reboot program using its proprietary systems to analyse how clients’ offices could be redesigned or redeployed to improve phased entry, hygiene and social distancing. It has been very successful in the company’s developed markets.

Regional Managing Director, North Asia at Space Matrix, Cynthia Chan, considers the pandemic a catalyst for what would have been inevitable change. “I think it was more pushed forward by COVID-19, rather than driven by COVID-19. Certainly in the future, the majority of offices will be used for meeting people and collaborating – being connected with people rather than doing isolated work,” she tells The CEO Magazine.