Rooms for hybrid meetings

Challenge

In recent years, the meeting culture in Danish workplaces has been the subject of much attention – through research, debate, and tools that have been developed to support more efficient and satisfying meetings.1/2 The discussion about meeting culture received an extra dimension when lockdowns began, and a large part of activities became digital. For the Municipality of Copenhagen, everything from citizen meetings to conferences, planning, and coffee meetings had to be conducted digitally. There are indications that online meetings may be more effective than physical meetings for certain purposes.3 However, although conference calls have been used for a long time, the physical meeting remains an important element in everyday work life. And for the Municipality of Copenhagen, good meeting facilities were a priority in the redesign of their offices. In the ‘Copenhagen Properties and Purchasing’ (KEID) premises on Borups Allé in Copenhagen, a major redesign of the office spaces was underway when the COVID-19 restrictions hit. The municipality’s transformation toward activity-based office design meant that meetings had been given more space and consideration. For example, the offices had been

Taxonomy

fitted out with additional zones for informal meetings and discussion.

Solution

With the gradual return to normal, hybrid work has become commonplace for many Danes. New forms of work require a rethinking of the office interior. In the meeting room, this means that the space must be able to support both physical and virtual participants. In KEID’s premises, the new meeting facilities have been developed to support hybrid meetings. In the new design, a distinction is made between traditional meeting rooms and meeting rooms with technical equipment for hybrid meetings. In addition, the activity-based design also includes “phone booths” for participation in virtual meetings and special areas for passive meeting participation – i.e. when an employee attends a virtual meeting without speaking.

The example shows how new ways of working place new demands on the physical design of the workplace, and how technological solutions and design solutions can support a successful hybrid working life.

Sphere: The Workplace Timescale: Long Term Type: Interior Design, Building Intervention User Group: Employees/Service Providers

Project and location: Copenhagen Municipality, Copenhagen, Denmark

Contributor: Municipality of Copenhagen, Copenhagen Properties and Purchasing (KEID)

Established: 2020